Brady Tkachuk is a Florida Panther now, and the Ottawa Senators just lost one of their best forwards.
The move landed Sunday morning, and it did not take long for the real reason to surface.
Elliotte Friedman reported that a source close to one of the players said the Brady and Matthew podcast caused some problems, and it was just time.
A podcast with his own brother reportedly helped end his run in Ottawa. Strange way to close a chapter.
Elliotte Friedman: Re Brady Tkachuk trade/Senators: I did have someone who reached out to me, one of the players; he said the [Brady & Matthew] podcast caused some problems and it was just time.
Tkachuk finishes the season with 22 goals and 37 assists for 59 points across 60 games, plus a plus-4 rating.
Is a podcast really enough to move a piece like this? Maybe not on its own. But dealing away this kind of production over noise off the ice is a bad look for Ottawa.
It's the hockey equivalent of breaking up a band mid tour over one bad interview.
Matthew Tkachuk gets his brother back in South Florida
Matthew Tkachuk has 13 goals and 21 assists for 34 points in 31 games this season, and now shares a locker room with his brother again.
The Panthers sit at 40-38-4 for 84 points, ranked 25th overall, and they're riding a three-game winning streak.
Florida closed its season with an 8-1 win over Detroit. Ottawa finished with a 3-1 win over Toronto.
Ottawa is 44-27-11 for 99 points and ranked ninth overall, a much stronger position than the team that just gave him up.
The Senators lost three of four meetings with the Panthers this season, including a 3-6 road loss and a 2-3 defeat at home.
Tkachuk carries a cap hit of $8,205,714, and his brother carries $9,500,000. Florida now has more than $17 million tied up in one last name.
Steve Staios signed off on this deal as Ottawa's general manager, choosing locker room peace over pure production.
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Head coach Andrew Campbell now has to replace that presence in the Ottawa room, and Paul Maurice has to figure out how two Tkachuks share one bench.
Did the Senators make a mistake trading Brady Tkachuk over a podcast issue?
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