Thomas Chabot got asked about Michael Andlauer's comments on Brady Tkachuk, and the Senators defenceman refused to keep the thing breathing.
If we keep answering those we will answer about Brady all season long, Chabot said.
The only person in position to answer that question would be Brady. That's the entire response.
That's a veteran protecting his own season. It's also a man telling you the topic wore out its welcome a while ago.
Andlauer told Pierre LeBrun that blood is thicker than water, and that Brady's father and brother got in his kitchen.
The owner put that on the record. Chabot fields it in a scrum days later. That's how these things travel.
The broadcast graphic had him at 7 goals and 24 assists across 57 games last season, averaging 22:35 a night.
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Thomas Chabot shuts down Brady Tkachuk questions after Michael Andlauer comments
The trade request went to Florida, which is where Brady's brother already plays.
Matthew Tkachuk carries a $9,500,000 cap hit with the Panthers. The two of them are teammates now.
Ottawa didn't come away empty. That deal brought back the ninth and twenty-fifth overall picks.
The ninth went on to San Jose in the William Eklund trade and turned into Keaton Verhoeff.
Ottawa used the twenty-fifth on Jonas Lagerberg Hoen.
Those same picks resurfaced this summer inside Elliotte Friedman's reporting on Florida's Connor Hellebuyck offer.
Ottawa lost both halves of a split squad to Toronto on Wednesday, 6-1 on the road and 4-2 at home.
Tim Stutzle, Dylan Cozens and Hoyt Stanley scored the Ottawa goals across those two games.
That's three straight losses and an 0-2-1 exhibition record heading into the weekend.
Montreal visits Saturday. Steve Staios and Andrew Campbell get more of the same questions until somebody stops asking them.
So who actually owes an answer here? Being asked to explain a teammate's exit works like getting handed the bill for a dinner you never ordered.
Chabot pointed everybody toward Florida. Brady Tkachuk hasn't said a word, and Ottawa opens the season carrying the question regardless.
Should Michael Andlauer have kept the Brady Tkachuk comments to himself?
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