Brady Tkachuk returned to Ottawa on Wednesday and met with local media after leaving for New Jersey immediately after the Senators were swept Saturday by the Carolina Hurricanes. The Senators captain was unable to attend Monday’s Exit Meetings for good reason. Tkachuk’s wife, Emma, gave birth to their second child, Lyla, only 14 hours after the game’s conclusion.
“Her and both her mom are doing great. They’re back home, so it’s been funny to see the dynamic between Ryder and her, and Ryder wants nothing to do with her right now. So it’s been funny to see, but showing signs of progress. He was hanging out with her this morning, so it’s pretty crazy.”
Tkachuk added there was no danger of his wife going into labour during Saturday’s game, “She wasn’t going into labor during the game, but talked with her doctors for what’s best. I know it’s a little bit earlier than we expected so, but it was just kind of the right decision to go in the next morning for both her and the baby.“
The 26-year-old’s postgame availability Saturday ran the gamut of emotions. Tkachuk did his best to explain how he was feeling at that point in time.
“I mean, after the game, was heartbroken. I never want the season to end as quick as it did like that last year. And this year, when you get in the playoffs, you just want to play till middle of June. And when you’re not in playoffs, there’s kind of that day of the season’s over. But when your in the playoffs just you never know when it’s going to be over. And so you’re not really thinking about it, you’re not really preparing for it.
Just that hit, that emotional of that kind of hits you that the season’s done, and it’s really tough. It’s tough for me to explain that feeling. Just hit so suddenly that it’s just crazy amount of emotions that you feel.”
Failure to record at least one point in the Senators’ four postseason games weighed on Tkachuk. He wanted to produce more for his team.
“I think I’ve shown in the past that those are the games that I show up in and play well and leave an impact. And I don’t think anybody’s more frustrated with how everything went than me. At the end of the day, didn’t play good enough. I tried doing everything in my power to get my game going, make an impact. It just felt like nothing was going, nothing was going in. Nothing’s going my way and but I live with that, and that’s what’s tough, as a player, and for myself, I believe that I can be that guy. I’ve always pride myself in that it doesn’t happen.”
Tkachuk touched on the climb the Senators needed to overcome to get into the playoffs. Ottawa was second-last in the Eastern Conference in mid-January.
“Everything is very dampened by how playoffs went, but I think in the grand scheme of things, there’s a lot that we dealt with as a group and how we handled the adversity of. I was really proud of that where you can easily make an excuse throwing a towel, and say that injuries happen, or this happened, where the fact that we made up all the ground and got into this position was good. It was out goal to get in the playoffs, but at the end of the day, it’s making what we truly wanted. And obviously that’s that does dampen it that is frustrating for me.”
While there were ups and downs during Tkachuk’s regular season, the United States gold medallist still managed to register 22 goals and 37 assists in 60 games despite missing six weeks after undergoing right thumb surgery to repair a torn ligament. His 37 assists tied for the second-most in his eight-year NHL career to date.
The Senators 2018 fourth overall selection reflects on improvements in his overall game this past season.
“I think I definitely made a lot of strides individually. For me, it’s want to be more a guy that can play against tough guys. Playing at the Olympics, I remember the Gold Medal game and we were playing against MacKinnon, Celebrini, McDavid most all game, and I love them. I love playing against the best players in the world. And for me, it’s just getting better and I guess, everybody’s confidence. I can do that on a day-in, day-out basis, and be confident when I’m game in that process too,” said Tkachuk.
“And I just love being on the ice against the best players. And I guess seeing who can be the best player on the ice that night, I think that’s always a fun challenge. And I think that’s a fun challenge for every competitor, every player, to go to go against those guys. And you can learn a lot.
For me. I can learn a lot from a guy like “Pints” (Shane Pinto), a guy like “G” (Claude Giroux) who’s done it his whole career. “Sandy,” (Jake Sanderson) the guys that play against the top guys every given night that I can learn from those guys, and not just how they approach it, but how their game evolved against from one best player to another, where they have different skill sets, and they all did a great job against those guys. So just building confidence in those positions is something that I want to continue to work on.”
The Senators captain has to yet to formally meet with general manager Steve Staios. Staios is currently attending the World U-18 Championship in Slovakia.
With two years remaining on his contract, ineligible to sign an extension until July 1, 2027, Tkachuk isn’t thinking too far ahead.
“The extension talk, it’s a year away. So that’s something that you physically can’t even do anytime soon. So for me, it’s just like I would just talk to Steve. When we have that conversation, where he views our team, what he thinks we need to improve on and what I need to improve on myself, not just as a player, as in as a captain, and stuff like that. So obviously, I’m excited to hear Steve’s thoughts and what he thinks.”
One topic which isn’t going away any time soon is the outside noise of Brady Tkachuk trade chatter. The Senators GM said Monday, “It’s nonsense.”
Once again, on Wednesday, Tkachuk himself wanted to put the entire NHL insider, social media trade discussion to bed.
“Honestly, I don’t get why. It’s a consistent thing, and it’s happened so many times, personally, and it’s frustrating. Like I said, it just, it’s frustrating to have to answer to something that has never been spoken out of my mouth, hasn’t been spoken from the team’s mouth, but I just feel like I have to consistently answer to it, and it’s just frustrating. I mean, like I said, I’ve said it, feel like 100 times at this point. I’ve never said it.
Team never said it. I have always believed in this team. I’ve always believed playing for this city, and the city has always been good to me. So it’s just I don’t really know what else other to say than what I’ve said countless times, and they just all these stuff to answer to it. So just all that stuff, it’s just a distraction.”
Tkachuk does his best to avoid trade talk, by remaining off X, not viewing comments, even those related to his Wingmen podcast hosted with his brother, Matthew.
“It’s tough. Sometimes the algorithms you can’t control it,” Tkachuk explains.
“You just see it. And honestly, that’s for me, the way I kind of handle that at times is get off Twitter, and I feel like that’s more of a prominent platform to see that stuff. And so for me, just kind of made the decision to get rid of Twitter. I mean, everyone has the right to their opinion, and a lot of that stuff, you just can’t control what other people say. I know myself, what I believe in, what my values, what my morals, and what my intentions are, day in and day out, and that’s all I can really focus on.”
Prior to ending his media availability, Tkachuk was adamant about sending Ottawa Senators fans this message:
“I just want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for the support that you guys have for our team, myself, my family all year, really wish we could be playing for you guys. Still, you guys brought so much energy, so much joy to our team, that kind of makes it sting even more. But I just want to say thank you to all the fans, all the supporters, for always being there for us. Just say thank you. You guys. Hope you guys have a great summer.”
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