NHL Analyst 'Sells' on Brady Tkachuk's Future with Senators

The podcast producer joined the show to present the analysts with a simple question. "I'm going to stir the pot: Brady Tkachuk will still be a member of the Ottawa Senators when the new arena open—buy or sell?" he asked.

“It’s interesting. A great question, because he got three years left in his contract. And so is it going to be three? Is that building done in three years? Probably not. So I’m going to actually sell,” Gregor said.

A Senators Arena Project and a Brady Tkachuk Ticking Clock

The Senators reached an agreement with the National Capital Commission to secure land at LeBreton Flats, roughly 15 miles from their current arena, as the franchise announced on Monday.

Construction hurdles, however, mean the team’s new home is unlikely to be ready before Tkachuk’s contract runs out, or in a best-case scenario, by the time it ends in three years.

Gregor argued the overlap could affect Tkachuk’s long-term plans.

“I think, I think he is going to, by the time that building is done, he’ll have moved on,” Gregor said, adding, “I get a sense that he might be going to the USA.”

Brady Tkachuk's Contract Gives Him Full Control

The Senators drafted Tkachuk with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2018 draft, and he is entering the fifth year of his eight-year, $57.56 million contract.

Tkachuk's deal features a full no-movement clause that kicked in on July 1, giving him control over any trade scenario through the duration of his contract.

There has been no indication Ottawa intends to move him, and the earliest the club could extend Tkachuk is July 2027. Tkachuk, meanwhile, denied rumors about his interest in an exit from Ottawa last season when he was linked to the New York Rangers.

“It’s stuff that I can’t control so, to be honest with you, it doesn’t really bother me because it’s coming from a place where it’s not true,” Tkachuk said on Dec. 10. 

Given Tkachuk’s American background as a Scottsdale, AZ, native, Gregor suggested a move south of the Canadian border could be the natural path if the timing of the Senators’ arena project and his free agency status don’t align, and Ottawa cannot use the new arena as a positive in contract talks.