Oh, brother! Brady Tkachuk getting traded to Florida to join Matthew Tkachuk, AP source says

United States' Brady Tkachuk (7) and Matthew Tkachuk (19) celebrate after the United States' win over Canada in the men's ice hockey gold medal game at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, Feb. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

2026-06-21T22:23:02Z

Matthew Tkachuk and Brady Tkachuk are about to team up in Florida, after the Panthers pulled off another summertime blockbuster.

The Panthers and Ottawa were finalizing a deal where Florida would send four draft picks to the Senators for Brady Tkachuk, a person familiar with the terms said Sunday. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because neither team had released details publicly.

The picks were Florida’s first-rounder this year, No. 9 overall, along with two picks acquired earlier Sunday in the Panthers’ move to send Mackie Samoskevich to Seattle, and another first-rounder in 2029.

Brady Tkachuk has spent the entirety of his eight-year NHL career in Ottawa, and now he joins his brother, Olympic teammate and podcast co-host in Florida — the place where Matthew Tkachuk has spent the last four seasons, winning two Stanley Cups and getting to the final three times.

The Athletic was first to report the pending trade.

Brady Tkachuk has two seasons left on the seven-year, $57.56 million contract he signed in October 2021 when he also became Ottawa’s captain. As recently as late April, he bristled at conversation about his name being in trade rumors following a first-round playoff exit.

It’s a move that makes sense for so many reasons and has seemed almost inevitable.

Matthew Tkachuk and Brady Tkachuk reveled in the chance to play alongside one another for USA Hockey at the 4 Nations Face-Off in 2025 (winning silver) and the Milan Cortina Olympics this year (winning gold, the first for the American men’s program on the Olympic stage since the miracle in Lake Placid 46 years ago).

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Their parents — their dad is NHL legend Keith Tkachuk — have a home in Florida and are regular attendees at Panthers games, and the USA Hockey ties means Brady Tkachuk already has relationships with many in the Florida organization. Bill Zito, Florida’s hockey operations president and general manager, had a role within USA Hockey during this past Olympic cycle and Panthers equipment manager Teddy Richards had a role with the 4 Nations and Milan Cortina teams as well.

Brady Tkachuk was Ottawa’s captain for the last five seasons, and he was — by far in some cases — their leader in countless categories over his eight years with the Senators. No player had more goals (213), points (463), power-play goals (62), shots (2,202), hits (1,921), winning goals (28), multigoal games (30) and penalty minutes (821) in his tenure with the club, which acquired him with the No. 4 pick in the 2018 draft.

And now, four years after landing Matthew Tkachuk, the Panthers have tapped into the Tkachuk family well of talent again.

It also adds another big name to the list of players that Florida has locked up for several seasons going forward, including Aleksander Barkov, Aaron Ekblad, Sam Reinhart, Sam Bennett, Carter Verhaeghe, Gustav Forsling, Anton Lundell and others. They’re all Stanley Cup winners, and now Brady Tkachuk would figure to have a real chance to get his name etched onto hockey’s chalice in the coming years as well.

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AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno contributed to this report.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

TIM REYNOLDS Reynolds is an Associated Press sports writer, based in South Florida. twitter mailto