Florida Panthers trade for Brady Tkachuk, uniting him with brother Matthew
Nearly four years ago, Florida Panthers president of hockey operations and general manager Bill Zito finalized the franchise-altering trade that brought star winger Matthew Tkachuk to South Florida, a move that played a major role in three consecutive trips to the Stanley Cup Final and back-to-back championships in 2024 and 2025.
Now, Zito is bringing the family together as he makes his latest blockbuster move.
The Panthers on Sunday acquired forward Brady Tkachuk from the Ottawa Senators, a deal that unites the Tkachuk brothers and brings yet another star hockey player to South Florida.
Florida sent four draft picks — including three first-round selections (the Nos. 9 and 25 picks this year and a top-10-protected first-rounder in 2029) plus a second-round pick in 2027 — to Ottawa to complete the deal. Florida acquired one of those picks earlier Sunday when they dealt forward Mackie Samoskevich to the Seattle Kraken.
“Brady is a dynamic competitor and one of the most physical and relentless forwards in the league,” Zito said in a press release announcing the trade. “A proven leader and exactly the type of player we want in our locker room, he strives to make everyone around him better both on and off the ice. We’re thrilled to welcome Brady to South Florida to join our group as we continue our pursuit of championship hockey.”
Brady Tkachuk, who turns 27 in September, has two years left on a deal that has an annual cap hit of just over $8.2 million.
He has spent his entire NHL career with Ottawa to this point, producing 463 points (213 goals, 250 assists) over 572 games in eight seasons.
It had been rumored for the better part of the past few months that Brady Tkachuk wanted out of Ottawa. He has a no-movement clause in his contract, which allowed him to essentially pick his destination if the Senators relented and decided to deal him.
According to The Athletic, Brady Tkachuk gave Ottawa a four-team list of Florida, the Carolina Hurricanes, Vegas Golden Knights and Minnesota Wild as destinations he would be willing to be sent to.
But in the end, it was always going to be Florida if the sides could come to terms.
“This was not a decision we took lightly, but ultimately we did what we felt was best for the long-term future of our hockey club,” Ottawa president of hockey operations and general manager Steve Staios said in a statement of the trade. “We now possess cap space and draft capital and will be actively working to improve our roster.”
Brady and Matthew Tkachuk played together internationally each of the past two years for the United States, first winning silver in the NHL’s 4 Nations Face-Off tournament in 2025 and then winning gold at the Winter Olympics in February.
Now, they’re together for the next two years with the goal of bringing the Stanley Cup back to South Florida. Matthew Tkachuk, who has been a franchise-altering player since Florida acquired him in July 2022, has already won twice with the Panthers in 2024 and 2025 before injuries ravaged Florida’s 2025-26 season. Brady, meanwhile, has made the playoffs just twice with Ottawa — first-round exits each of the past two seasons.
And once again, Zito showed he isn’t afraid to pull the trigger on a big move that could have seismic ramifications on the Panthers. Sam Reinhart, Sam Bennett, Seth Jones and Brad Marchand among a slew of other key contributors came to the Panthers via trade under Zito’s watch along with the Tkachuk brothers.
Acquiring Brady Tkachuk adds to Florida’s already loaded forward group.
Barring another trade, Florida’s top nine forwards now consist of Aleksander Barkov, the Tkachuk brothers, Reinhart, Bennett, Marchand, Carter Verhaeghe, Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen. Beyond them, the team still has a pair of versatile players in Evan Rodrigues and Jesper Boqvist, a hard-hitting scrappy winger in Jonah Gadjovich, a rising prospect in Sandis Vilmanis and depth in Cole Reinhardt and Cole Schwindt to round out the group.
Florida’s main priority for the rest of the offseason is sorting out its goaltending situation. As it stands, the Panthers are about $7 million under the cap and still need two goalies with both Sergei Bobrovsky and Daniil Tarasov set to become unrestricted free agents on July 1.
Zito has said multiple times the Panthers would be interested in re-signing Bobrovsky, who just finished a seven-year, $70 million deal, but the sides haven’t been able to find common ground on a new deal since the season ended. Bobrovsky reportedly wants a lengthy deal — numbers circulating are a six-year deal paying an average of $7 million per year. Bobrovsky turns 38 in September and while he was a key part of their two Stanley Cups, he is coming off arguably the worst statistical season of his career (3.07 goals against average, .877 save percentage). Bobrovsky’s camp will likely have to accept a lower annual cap hit for a return to Florida to happen.
The Panthers were connected to a potential trade for Winnipeg Jets netminder and three-time Vezina Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck, but that is likely not happening now after Florida sent its haul of draft picks to Ottawa.
Perhaps they swing a deal for the St. Louis Blues’ Jordan Binnington, who is entering the final year of a deal with a $6 million cap hit. Top free-agent options beyond Bobrovsky include Stuart Skinner, Cam Talbot, Frederick Andersen and Matt Murray, among others.
This story was originally published June 21, 2026 at 6:10 PM.
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