- Steve Staios says Ottawa negotiated with four separate teams on a Brady Tkachuk trade
- Talks ran five or six weeks before the Senators settled on Florida
- Read below for what Staios told 2,500 season seat members about what comes next
Steve Staios had four teams on the other end of the phone before Brady Tkachuk ever became a Panther.
The Senators general manager walked through the entire deal Wednesday night in front of nearly 2,500 fans at Canadian Tire Centre. Ottawa’s third annual Season Seat Member Summit ran on pre-submitted questions, and the June trade that shipped the captain to Florida drew the longest answer of the evening.
Staios began with his exit interview with Tkachuk, who asked out a couple of weeks after the season ended.
“When the conversation happened, I went into a strategic plan on how this was going to work. The player had control, as much control as the team did. So we entered into negotiations with four separate teams, and as the negotiations went on, it must have been probably five or six weeks until we came up with a deal. Nearing the end of it, a few days before, I felt that I had a sense that it was going to be only one team, and that team had the ninth overall pick.”
Take a look at Andrew Wilimek’s rundown of the night for the club:
Draft capital carried the package Ottawa got back. The Senators landed Florida’s 2026 first-round pick, a Tampa Bay 2026 first the Panthers had picked up from Seattle earlier that same day, a 2027 second and a top-10 protected 2029 first.
Those five or six weeks were not spent waiting around. Staios told the room he was already calling other clubs about roster players he could bring in with the assets.
“The plan started two or three weeks in advance of when they got the deal. The goal was to continue to keep the team as competitive as they are. I wasn’t done.”
He also knows exactly what the building wants from him next, and he said so before anyone had to ask.
“I know, I can feel it from you guys because I felt it too, there’s some pretty good players out there and you guys are saying, ‘Come on Staios, go get this guy,’ right. But certainly, I wasn’t done after the Brady deal, and certainly not done now. We’re determined to bring a championship here.”
One piece of unfinished business is Drake Batherson’s extension, which Staios called a priority, per Callum Fraser of the Ottawa Sun.
Team president Cyril Leeder got booed by the same crowd when he brought up Oct. 21, the night Tkachuk walks back into Canadian Tire Centre wearing a Panthers sweater.
“I think on Oct. 21, the hype will live up to the game, the game will live up to the hype itself. I expect that that’s going to be a special day here at Canadian Tire Centre.”
