Brady Tkachuk and Travis Green are getting ready for the summer in Ottawa, but one truth stands out through all the noise.
Bruce Garrioch clears up the confusion quickly. He says the Senators don’t need to trade Tkachuk and that he’s likely to be back next season.
This is important because people have been talking as if a trade is happening soon. Garrioch is strongly disagreeing with that idea.
One reason is his contract. Tkachuk has two years remaining on his agreement, and Garrioch mentioned that he has a full no-move clause.
That changes everything. Ottawa can’t just trade a player without a plan if the trade talk gets intense for a few days.
Tkachuk has the power over his own future. This is the main point in Garrioch’s opinion, and it should help calm some of the worries about the captain.
The second part is simple. Garrioch doesn’t think there’s any rush to make a move.
“Bruce Garrioch: About the Senators: [Brady Tkachuk] has two years left on his contract and has a full no-move clause. . . he controls his future. There’s no reason to trade Tkachuk, and he’s likely to return next season – Ottawa Citizen (4/26) ”
New info about Brady Tkachuk has just been confirmed by an NHL insider.
This is the part that keeps getting overlooked. The Senators had a disappointing end to their playoff run, but feeling frustrated doesn’t mean it’s smart to trade your captain.
Tkachuk is still too important to the team’s identity. He scored 22 goals and had 59 points in 60 games this season.
Sure, his playoffs stats weren’t great. He ended the series against Carolina with 0 points in 4 games, and that always fuels trade talks.
But just one poor performance doesn’t take away from what he means to the team, to the fans, and to how Ottawa intends to play. Players with that kind of talent don’t get traded just because fans online are anxious.
The player himself has already responded to the rumors. He said he has never indicated or done anything to show that he wants to leave Ottawa.
This is important when you consider Garrioch’s report. If you combine these two things, it’s clear that there is more talk about this outside the team than inside.
Steve Staios has also publicly dismissed the rumors. Now Garrioch is sending the same message from a different perspective: need and control.
That’s why this situation seems significant. Ottawa doesn’t have to rush into making a captain decision this summer, and the captain has the authority to prevent one from happening anyway.
So unless something changes dramatically, the most important point here is not that Brady Tkachuk is going somewhere.
It is that the Senators are still much more likely to start next season with No. 7 right where he has always been.
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