- Cyril Leeder says the Senators plan to play a tribute video for Brady Tkachuk on Oct. 21
- Ottawa traded its captain to Florida after he asked out following a first-round sweep
- Read below for how Toronto handled the same situation with Mitch Marner
Brady Tkachuk is getting a tribute video in Ottawa.
Senators president Cyril Leeder said Thursday the club plans to run one for its former captain when he walks back into Canadian Tire Centre in a Panthers sweater on Oct. 21.
Plenty of Sens fans wanted the opposite. Tkachuk requested a trade weeks after Carolina swept Ottawa out of the first round, and Steve Staios worked four teams for five or six weeks before shipping him to Florida to play with his brother Matthew.
Two years were still left on his contract when he asked out. That is the detail the angry half of the fan base keeps circling.
The other half points at the eight years that came first. Ottawa took him fourth overall in 2018 and handed him the C for his last five seasons. He left with 213 goals and 250 assists in 572 games, fifth in franchise scoring, and he carried some genuinely bad rosters through a lot of empty Februaries.
Tkachuk handled his own goodbye in June. He put out a video message looking back on his eight seasons and thanking the city that drafted him.
“It’s been the best eight years that anybody could have asked for. I feel really grateful to have started my career in Ottawa.”
Watch the message he sent Sens fans on his way out:
Toronto ran this exact play in January. The Maple Leafs played a 40-second tribute for Mitch Marner in his first game back with Vegas, got a mix of boos and cheers while it rolled, then watched the building stand up when it closed. Marner heard it from the crowd on nearly every touch the rest of the night.
Leeder can order the video. What Canadian Tire Centre does while it plays is not his call.
