Ottawa Senators Top 25 Under 25, #2: Brady Tkachuk.
Last Year: 2, Reader Rank: 2
Brady Tkachuk just barely made the cutoff for this list, since he turns 25 in 13 days. I’m so glad he qualified one more time though, just to have this opportunity in this space to gush about our captain.
Tkachuk is the heart and soul of this franchise in a way we haven’t seen since Daniel Alfredsson. On nights the team is good, Tkachuk is the one leading the celebrations. On nights the team is bad, Tkachuk is pumping up the team and working his hardest, trying to will them back into a game. He will shoot and score, he will hit and fight and chirp, he will celebrate anyone and anything from a goal to a shot block. He wears his heart on his sleeve every damn game. Nobody can ever accuse Brady of not caring enough.
One of the greatest tricks that Tkachuk pulled was becoming a puck possession machine. In his first four seasons, he was incredible at shooting and hitting, he was solid on faceoffs and great at net-front deflections, and all that would’ve been perfectly great as a top-line winger. But then he must’ve worked on his strength and puck control, because these last two seasons, he’s also been a force entering the zone. Defencemen now struggle to separate him from the puck as he bulldozes his way to the net or else to the corner to start the cycle. As the power forward has become a rarer breed in the modern NHL, Tkachuk is a throwback to players like his dad, a player that few teams have but every team wishes they had.
I can’t talk about Brady without talking about his physicality. He had 6 fights in 2023-24, slightly below his career high of 8 last year. However, his hits were up, with 294 in 81 games, up 52 from the previous year, though still slightly below his career high of 303 in 2019-20 (in only 71 games!). And I definitely can’t talk about his past season without mentioning him setting the official record for hits in a game with 16 against the Devils. That was on fan appreciation night, and the Sens had come out very flat before Brady willed them back in. The Sens still lost 4-3, but he nearly salvaged what looked to be an awful night.
The other thing I have to point out is Brady’s infectious enthusiasm. He loves to come up with new cellies, and has had great ones like the Frank the Tank, the flex, and the… whatever this was. His hype-up personality is part of what makes him such a great leader. And more of the hockey world got to see it when he was named captain of Team USA at this spring’s World Championships, putting up seven goals and six assists in eight games.
We can always dig into the things that make Tkachuk so impactful on the ice. Trevor did a great job in his year-end piece, highlighting Brady’s career highs in goals (37) and shots (357), as well as his stellar underlying numbers, like being second on the team in 5v5 expected goals. He’s a really, really good hockey player, which probably makes him even better at getting under other players’ skin, knowing that he can punish you with his words, his hits, or his goals. The thing is, we appreciate his skills, but we adore him for all those extra things. He’s an incredibly fun player to cheer for. Even off the ice, whether it’s his work with the Boys and Girls Club, singing Mr. Brightside karaoke and buying (and pouring) the whole bar shots, or his insistence on wearing crocs, he’s an extremely fun persona. He reminds us all that hockey is foremost entertainment.
I didn’t think the Sens should draft him in 2018; I was so wrong. I didn’t think he should start in the NHL right after being drafted; again, I was so wrong. He is the engine of this team, a play-driving, team-carrying power forward. Call him gutsy, fiery, truculent, I don’t care; he’s amazing. I love how much other franchises hate him. I love how guys like Tim Stützle have become a little greasier under his tutelage. He has a great shot at being the greatest player to spend his whole career with the Sens. He’s made some of these disappointing seasons these past few years fun to watch. I’m so excited to see Brady in the playoffs. He’s built for playoff hockey, and I believe we’re going to see him hit another level when he finally gets to the postseason. I can’t wait, and I seriously hope this is the year.
