Florida Panthers acquire Brady Tkachuk from Ottawa Senators

Hello, everyone, and welcome to this special breaking news edition of NHL Tonight.Lauren Gardner here with you in Studio three and reports were confirmed on Sunday evening that Ottawa Senators Captain Brady could Chuck will be joining his brother Matthew and Sunrise, Florida as a member of the Florida Panthers.Now this trade does involve three first round picks as well as the second rounder.Now could Chuck, 26 years old, still has two seasons left on a seven year, 57 and a half million dollar contract.The forward sign with the sends back in 2021 with an annual average value of over $8 .2 million.So a very special day for the brothers who are combined Olympic gold medals.

Now for more on this breaking news, we welcome in our NHL insider, Elliot Friedman.Now, Elliot, first of all, thank you so much for joining us.How did this deal come to fruition?

Let's go back to when Ottawa gets knocked out of the playoffs, Lauren.At that time, Brady Kachuk didn't stay with his team after the game for excellent reason.His wife was pregnant.They were due.She gave birth to their second child about 14 hours after Ottawa lost that game.And so he didn't have an exit meeting with the rest of the Senators after they were knocked out of the playoffs.

And so Steve Stahels, the GM of the Sanders, he flew to New Jersey, where Kachuk lives, to meet with him.And they talked face to face.And during that conversation, Kachuk has two years left on his contract.And he asked, you know, would Ottawa have hope of keeping him?And I don't know that Kachuk said flat out no, but whatever he said didn't give the Senators much confidence.And it was at that point in time, they really began to think about it.

Now, Lauren, I know I'm not sure how familiar you are with the general daily conversations in Ottawa, but any time that this topic got raised, Kachuk's futureit became a firestorm in the local market.And there's passionate hockey fans in Ottawa.It became a distraction in the community.It became a distraction in the dressing room.And the moment this got out, and I think it would have gotten out pretty shortly if the trade didn't happen today, then it was going to make it even crazier.

And I just don't think the senators wanted to deal with that.was good for their team.Now they were given a list of four.It was Carolina, Florida, Minnesota, Vegas, And but I from what I understand it became pretty clear Brady's choice and he had a no move clause was to go to Florida with his brother Matthew.And ultimately I think Ottawa just decided to make the best deal they could and get it over with.And that's what they did.

And now I think they're going to use the picks they got to try to try to add because a lot of their players are still in their primes.And I just don't think rebuilding makes a lot of sense to them right now.

Yeah, Elliot, that was going to be my second question.Ottawa makes it to the postseason for the first time in a long time, a back to back years.Now this trade doesn't involve a player directly, but it does have those first round picks as well as the second rounder.How would you personally assess the value that Ottawa got in return?

You know what?It's not Brady could Chuck.I think we all know that Lauren.It's it's it's a disappointing day for the Sanders and their fans, but you have to move on right?Yeah, and you know, obviously they didn't get equal value.I think everybody knows that but they were up against it.

And so the way I look at it is judge them by where they go from here.They're going to turn their team over to Tim Stutesville and Jake Sanderson.And the thing is those guys are locked in on really good value contracts by NHL standards, especially with the cap exploding, and they're still young.They've got a lot of great years ahead of them.So that's why I don't believe that Ottawa is done.I think they will look at this as we had to do this.

We don't like we had to do it.But now we have some things that we can do to add and I don't think they're done.I think they will try to add that Atlantic.Lauren look at that division.That thing is going to be a bear next year with Florida signaling that they're back after missing the playoffs.And I think it was going to say it doesn't benefit us to rebuild not where we are with a lot of our players currently.

Yeah you just mentioned Florida traded to a division opponent.We all knew that Florida would bounce back especially with all their players healthy going into next season.What does this mean for Florida.or should we be scared if you're a fan of the East?

Oh, it's like you look at those forwards and it's unbelievable.Yeah.What what a forward group and they're going to they're going to have Barkov back and healthy and he could excuse me, and he looked good at the World Championships.Now, you know, I will say this.You've got the guy in the bottom right corner there, Evan Rodriguez.I wonder about that.

I've heard some noise around his name.So, like, I'm curious to see what that's going to mean, but I'm watching all these highlights and I'm looking at all these names, and that's a scary group.Their D's pretty good, too.All their guys are going to get healthy.The one question is going to be in goal.I've heard it's unlikely that Bobrovsky is going to be back.

I think you should never guarantee anything this offseason, the way it's going.But I think it's unlikely he's going to be back.So I wonder what they're going to do in goal.Maybe they have some interest in Urson, who Toronto just acquired, and I'm not sure they're going to keep him.But that's the one thing I look at on their team and say, how is that going to settle?What are they going to do in that?

Yeah, you talked about Barkov.It seemed like he was making a statement in Sweden at the World's this summer.that he's back and ready to roll for next season with the Panthers.Obviously, Matthew Kachok was in that tournament as well.How involved was he in this trade based on what you heard?

I think it's safe to say he was very involved.I don't know how well you know the Kachuks, Lauren, but it doesn't seem they're very shy of opinions there, does it?

That's a fact.

So I would say, obviously, I think Matthew and I think his dad too, Keith.And you know what?The Hockey Hall of Fame announcement is Monday.And, you know, you also kind of wonder, could this be Keith's year?What a weekend that could make it for him.But I have to think that Matthew and Keith, I don't know if I would call it subtle pressure or over the top table pressure, but I have no doubt, at the very least, they were whispering in his ear.

Yeah, I don't think anything is understated there with the Kachuks.Elliot, thank you so much for joining us here and breaking everything down.It is now official that Brady Kachuk is going to be a member of the Florida Panthers.We appreciate Elliot and him joining us.So, yes, that is the breaking news on this Sunday evening out of Sunrise, Florida, that Ottawa Senators Captain Brady Kachuk will now be a member of the Florida Panthers.That does it for this special breaking news edition of NHL Tonight.

For our great crew here at NHL Network, I'm Lauren Gardner.