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Report: Tkachuk brothers’ podcast ’caused some problems’ in Senators dressing room

Kyle Morton
Kyle Morton
Jul 6, 2026, 15:03 EDT
Tkachuk went pointless in Carolina's four-game sweep of Ottawa.
Credit: Apr 18, 2026; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; Ottawa Senators left wing Brady Tkachuk (7) reacts against the Carolina Hurricanes during the second period in game one of the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Lenovo Center. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-Imagn Images

One of the biggest moves of the NHL offseason came before the draft in June when the Ottawa Senators traded captain and star winger Brady Tkachuk to the Florida Panthers, where he will team up with his older brother and American Olympic teammate Matthew for the two-time Stanley Cup champions.

The extent to which the younger Tkachuk actively wanted out of Ottawa has been the subject of plenty of debates and reporting in the weeks since, and in this season’s final episode of his podcast 32 Thoughts, Sportsnet NHL insider Elliotte Friedman provided additional context on the status of the Senators’ locker room’s relationship with its captain in the final days of his tenure, specifically relating to Wingmen, a podcast Brady co-hosted with Matthew.

“It was time,” Friedman said of the trade on the podcast. “It was time to end the noise around the whole situation… Post-Olympics, it was time. A lot was going on, and the players were tired of it… I did have someone who reached out to me, one of the players, and said the only thing he felt that we should have added was the podcast. And he said the podcast caused some problems, and it was just time.”

The Tkachuk brothers’ podcast drew headlines during the regular season when Keith Tkachuk joined the show and provided seemingly scathing commentary toward some of Brady’s teammates in Ottawa, particularly starting goaltender Linus Ullmark.

Now, the Senators will turn the page on what had been a tumultuous final two years of the Tkachuk era and look to begin anew.

General manager Steve Staios only obtained draft picks in the trade that sent Tkachuk to the Panthers, but he quickly flipped the No. 9 overall pick in this year’s NHL Draft to the San Jose Sharks to add a top-six left-shot winger to the lineup in William Eklund.

Tkachuk’s time in Ottawa ended with two playoff appearances and no series wins with strong production to the tune of 213 goals and 250 assists for 463 points in 572 regular season games.

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