{"id":723210,"date":"2026-06-24T13:09:22","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T13:09:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/723210\/"},"modified":"2026-06-24T13:09:22","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T13:09:22","slug":"brady-tkachuk-trade-sets-the-stage-for-an-unpredictable-nhl-draft-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/723210\/","title":{"rendered":"Brady Tkachuk trade sets the stage for an unpredictable NHL Draft week"},"content":{"rendered":"

Red Light newsletter\u00a0\ud83c\udfd2\u00a0| This is\u00a0The Athletic\u2019s\u00a0hockey\u00a0newsletter.\u00a0Sign up here<\/a>\u00a0to receive Red Light directly in your inbox.<\/p>\n

Good morning to everyone except people who used that one cheap breakaway move in NHL \u201994.<\/p>\n

Were you expecting a quiet week once the games ended? Fool! Instead, we\u2019ve got the aftermath of a blockbuster trade<\/a> and a new class<\/a> of Hall of Famers to sort through.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s get into it.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n (Steph Chambers \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

A very Brady blockbuster<\/p>\n

Fans in Ottawa had heard it for years: Your captain will abandon you. Sure, he might say the right things. And he did sign a seven-year extension in 2021 that ostensibly committed him to the team for the long term. But we all knew how this would end: with Brady bolting for Florida, where he could wear flip-flops to practice, golf on off days and play with his brother, Matthew. The Senators front office denied it. Ownership too. And even Tkachuk himself expressed frustration<\/a> at the constant rumors. Where were people getting these wacky ideas?<\/p>\n

What happened next will shock you<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Or maybe it won\u2019t. Maybe it\u2019s exactly the outcome that felt inevitable all along. Sunday\u2019s trade came out of nowhere in the sense that the teams involved had managed to keep it largely quiet, but nobody was all that surprised. Brady to Florida<\/a>. Of course.<\/p>\n

Brady Tkachuk to the Florida Panthers<\/p>\n

Sean McIndoe and Sean Gentille<\/p>\n

So, now what? With plenty to unpack here, I think there are three burning questions:<\/p>\n

1. What do the Senators do now?<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t mean that question existentially, although there\u2019s a bit of that hanging over everything, too. For now, let\u2019s focus on what the Senators do with their sudden haul of picks<\/a> after adding Nos. 9 and 25 to their No. 32 pick this year. Whether you like the trade or not, it\u2019s rare for one team to acquire three first-round picks this quickly (Ottawa also got a conditional 2029 first-rounder in the deal).<\/p>\n

Ottawa could simply use them, of course, rebuilding a prospect pipeline and stocking the cupboard for years to come. But is that the right approach for a team that recently made it back to the playoffs after seven years in the wilderness? With a frustrated fanbase and a division that\u2019s looking brutal, there will be pressure on president\/GM Steve Staios to flip at least some of those picks for immediate help. And if he does, that means any evaluation of where the Senators stand in the post-Brady era is still very much in \u201cto be determined\u201d mode.<\/p>\n

2. Just how good are the Panthers about to be? They landed a star without giving up anyone on their roster. They\u2019ll have Aleksander Barkov back and healthy. And they\u2019ll be rested for the first time in years. So, where do you slot them in for next year? Just about everyone had them back in the playoffs, even before the Tkachuk deal. But are they in the mix with the Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning for home ice? The Atlantic Division favorites? The best team in the East? Should we expect to see them right back in the Stanley Cup Final for the fourth time in five years?<\/p>\n

And maybe of more immediate interest: Does this move put an end to the Connor Hellebuyck speculation<\/a>? In theory, it should, given the Panthers\u2019 diminished trade capital. Then again, they still don\u2019t have a goalie, so \u2026 something has to give, right?<\/p>\n

3. Does the NHL have a Canadian crisis on its hands? If you enjoy some heavy-handed symbolism, you surely made note of this trade coming just days after we found out \u201cHockey Night in Canada\u201d is no more<\/a>. Tkachuk joins Quinn Hughes as the second franchise player to work his way out from a Canadian team in the last year, with Hellebuyck in Winnipeg and Auston Matthews in Toronto still potentially in play. Calgary is already rebuilding. Edmonton is on permanent Connor McDavid watch. Basically, all of the country\u2019s teams are in some form of a mess right now, with only Montreal fans feeling much optimism.<\/p>\n

The bigger question is whether this all means anything, well, bigger. In a league where the Canadian TV deal is the single largest slice of revenue and the bottom line is still largely propped up by northern, \u201ctraditional\u201d hockey markets, does the math still math if all the stars want to play for the same handful of southern U.S. teams? James Mirtle isn\u2019t sure it does<\/a>.<\/p>\n

You can overreact to stuff like this. Sports are cyclical, and it wasn\u2019t that long ago that nobody wanted to play for the Panthers. And it\u2019s not like all the movement is one-way; the best defenseman on the unrestricted free-agent market just chose to go from Tampa to Toronto<\/a>. But there\u2019s also a danger in complacency, because perception can become reality. And if the perception in Canada is that the country\u2019s teams are meant to be nothing more than feeder squads for the half-dozen American teams that get to win everything, the league has a problem.<\/p>\n

We can hold that thought for now, because we\u2019ve got a busy week ahead of us \u2026<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Gavin McKenna, Ivar Stenberg and Chase Reid. (Illustration: Demetrius Robinson \/ The Athletic; Photos: Joe Camporeale \/ Imagn Images, David Berding \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Draft Countdown<\/p>\n

The NHL Draft is this weekend, with Round 1 on Friday night and the rest on Saturday. With lots of cap room out there, a very thin UFA market that keeps getting thinner<\/a> and more big names at least theoretically in play than any year in recent memory, we might be set up for a wild week.<\/p>\n

Note that \u201cmight\u201d \u2014 it wouldn\u2019t be the first time we thought NHL GMs were about to go wild, only to see them choose the conservative approach. But with one monster deal already done, we\u2019ve well past the point of waiting for the first domino to fall.<\/p>\n

For now, here\u2019s what you need to know:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n (Scott Cunningham \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udca1 Trivia Question<\/p>\n

The No. 9 pick was a nice add by the Senators, but it\u2019s not the highest draft pick ever traded for a Tkachuk. That honor goes to the No. 3 pick in the 2008 draft, which was included in a trade that sent Keith Tkachuk from St. Louis to Atlanta at the 2007 deadline.<\/p>\n

However, the Blues didn\u2019t end up using that pick \u2014 they traded it away that summer.<\/p>\n

For today\u2019s question, can you name the player the Blues acquired in that offseason deal?<\/p>\n

Hint: This player is a Hall of Famer.<\/p>\n

Answer at the bottom.<\/p>\n

Coast to Coast<\/p>\n

\ud83e\uddf3 Veteran Brendan Gallagher is on his way out of Montreal, and he has some thoughts on what comes next<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\ud83e\udda3 The Mammoth extended head coach Andr\u00e9 Tourigny and hired former Canucks boss Adam Foote as an assistant. The 52-year-old Tourigny<\/a> coached the franchise during its final three years as the Arizona Coyotes before it relocated to Utah ahead of the 2024-25 season.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcb0 Big news in the PWHL, as the league adds its first outside investors. Two interesting names \u2014 one Canadian, one American<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udf99\ufe0f On Monday\u2019s \u201cThe Athletic Hockey Show,\u201d the guys and I break down the Brady Tkachuk trade. Plus, thoughts on the Maple Leafs\u2019 acquisition of Darren Raddysh and Jonathan Toews calling it a career. Watch or listen here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Patrice Bergeron. (Maddie Meyer \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\ud83d\uddff HHOF Class of 2026<\/p>\n

The Hockey Hall of Fame revealed the six names<\/a> that will be inducted this fall. Congratulations to:<\/p>\n

Patrice Bergeron: This year\u2019s only slam dunk does indeed get the call as a first-time eligible. His six Selkes (and 12 straight years as a finalist) were already enough to get him in, but topping 1,000 points and winning the Cup in Boston ended any debate. Fluto Shinzawa has a look at Bergeron\u2019s evolution as a player<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Carey Price: He was a somewhat surprising snub last year but makes it in on the second try. The Hall went through an era where it was stingy with goalies but has been more generous lately. Price\u2019s resume of a Hart, a Vezina, 361 wins and international success was enough to make his case even without a Cup ring. Arpon Basu looks into Price\u2019s legacy, both on and off the ice<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Pekka Rinne: This seems to be the biggest surprise of this year\u2019s class, and I\u2019m not sure why. If Price was a lock, as many fans seemed to feel, then Rinne\u2019s case looks very similar. No Hart, but the rest of it \u2014 one Vezina, 369 wins, international success, one trip to the Cup Final \u2014 is very Price-ish.<\/p>\n

Keith Tkachuk: Finally, the Tkachuk family gets some attention. Keith\u2019s 538 goals had been the most of any eligible player who wasn\u2019t already in, and he\u2019d waited over a decade to get the call.<\/p>\n

Cindy Curley: She was a pioneer for the American women, first as a player and later as a coach. Her playing days were over by 1994, meaning she missed out on the glory years of the women\u2019s game, but she helped pave the way for it.<\/p>\n

Brian Burke: He\u2019s not everyone\u2019s favorite personality, but as a builder, it\u2019s hard to argue that he doesn\u2019t deserve a spot based on his decades as a GM and NHL executive.<\/p>\n

Were there any deserving candidates that were missed? Sure, as always. The committee continues to insist on using only one of its two spots for women, despite a backlog. Rod Brind\u2019Amour will have to console himself with his latest Cup ring, while Rinne\u2019s induction should turn up the heat on cases such as Curtis Joseph and Ryan Miller. And now that Tkachuk is in, the new leading goal-scorer among eligibles is Pat Verbeek, who has 522 goals to go with 1,062 points and 2,905 penalty minutes; you don\u2019t hear his name all that often in Hall talk, but that could be about to change.<\/p>\n

Still, it\u2019s a worthy class overall. And if your favorite didn\u2019t make it, hey, at least they still have a shot at the Hall of Very Good<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n (Dilip Vishwanat \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Trivia Answer<\/p>\n

After acquiring what would end up being the third pick in the 2008 draft from Atlanta in exchange for Keith Tkachuk, the Blues ended up trading that pick to \u2026 Atlanta. For some guy named Keith Tkachuk.<\/p>\n

Yeah, it was weird.<\/p>\n

Basically, the Thrashers paid a ransom of picks to get Tkachuk as a rental at the 2006-07 season\u2019s deadline. Once the season was over and it became clear he wasn\u2019t interested in signing an extension, they traded his rights back to the Blues for the same first-round pick they\u2019d given up as part of the package to get him in the first place. The Blues signed Tkachuk before the 2007-08 season and still came out of the whole deal with three high picks that they got to keep.<\/p>\n

As for that No. 3 pick in 2008, the Thrashers used it to take Zach Bogosian. Not a bad player, though in hindsight, there were a few better defensemen<\/a> on the board.<\/p>\n

Questions, comments or corrections? Our line is open. Shoot us a note at redlight@theathletic.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udceb Love Red Light? Check out The Athletic\u2019s other newsletters<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Red Light newsletter\u00a0\ud83c\udfd2\u00a0| This is\u00a0The Athletic\u2019s\u00a0hockey\u00a0newsletter.\u00a0Sign up here\u00a0to receive Red Light directly in your inbox. Good morning to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":723211,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[385,99],"class_list":["post-723210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/723210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=723210"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/723210\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/723211"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=723210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=723210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=723210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}