Atlantic Notes: Tkachuk, Dobson, Der-Arguchintsev
Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk took center stage Wednesday during his end-of-season press conference, using the time to forcefully shut down growing speculation regarding his future with the club. While the rest of the team’s end-of-season press conference was held on Monday after the Carolina Hurricanes swept the Senators, Tkachuk was delayed to celebrate the birth of his daughter, Lyla. During the discussions, Tkachuk wasted little time addressing trade rumors that he labeled a “distraction.”
“I feel like I’ve never shown, never said, none of those things have ever come out of my mouth, and quite honestly, it’s just getting frustrating,” Tkachuk said. “I have been fully committed to this team, to this city.”
General Manager Steve Staios echoed that sentiment earlier in the week, calling the rumors “nonsense.” Tkachuk, 26, is under contract for two more seasons and finished the year with 59 points in 60 games. Despite his regular-season production, he was held scoreless in the opening-round sweep, a result he admitted was a “big shot in the confidence.” He plans to meet with Staios following the U18 World Championships to discuss how to improve the roster for next season.
Additional notes around the Atlantic:
- The Montreal Canadiens received a significant boost during Wednesday’s optional skate as defenseman Noah Dobson returned to the ice. Dobson has been sidelined since April 11 after blocking a shot with his left hand, an injury that forced him to miss the start of the Canadiens’ first-round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning. While he skated individually and has yet to be cleared for full contact, his presence is a major step forward for a Habs blueline that has relied heavily on Mike Matheson and Lane Hutson in his absence.
- Former Maple Leafs prospect Semyon Der-Arguchintsev is reportedly interested in a return to the NHL after a productive stint in the KHL. His agent, Shumi Babaev, confirmed that they have already reached out to the organization to express a desire to rejoin the system. “Semyon is considering the option of returning to Toronto,” Babaev told R.org’s Daria Tuboltseva. “We contacted former general manager Brad Treliving and expressed our desire to return to the club’s system. Now we are waiting for the appointment of a new general manager and to understand his position.” Der-Arguchintsev, 25, recorded 37 points in 59 KHL games this season.
Atlantic Notes: Tkachuk, Free Agents, Hamonic
The Ottawa Senators’ quick elimination from the playoffs at the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes has prompted speculation about the future of captain Brady Tkachuk. Senators GM Steve Staios was asked about Tkachuk’s future in his end-of-season media availability today, and he made it clear the franchise has no interest in trading away – or even having a conversation about trading away – their star forward. When asked about whether he’d sit down with the player to discuss Tkachuk’s future, he said “there’s nothing that we have talked about or thought about where that conversation should happen.”
Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Citizen noted that Tkachuk, who has a full no-move clause on his contract, has “full control” over his future. Although Tkachuk is just two seasons away from being able to leave Ottawa as an unrestricted free agent, it’s somewhat difficult to imagine the Senators winning any trade involving him. The Calgary Flames’ decision to deal Tkachuk’s older brother, Matthew Tkachuk, serves as a cautionary tale. The deal immediately vaulted the Panthers to legitimate Stanley Cup contention while plunging the Flames into what would eventually become a true rebuild. The younger Tkachuk isn’t the same caliber of player as his brother, but he’s still, as Travis Green said, a winger that all 31 other NHL teams “would love to have.” But the no-move clause on Tkachuk’s contract means he could hand-pick a trade destination, and dramatically reduce the kind of return the Senators might receive. That’s a factor that has burned teams in the past trading players with no-move clauses. For that reason, and many more, Staios made it clear today that unless something changes, his hockey operations department has no interest in even entertaining trade discussions revolving around Tkachuk.
Other notes from the Atlantic Division:
- Staios also updated the media (including TSN’s Claire Hanna) on the status of the team’s pending unrestricted free agents, saying of the group “I have not closed the door on anyone.” He said he has spoken to each of the team’s pending UFA’s, but decided it best to “take a little bit of time and reflect” since the end of the season is still so fresh. The most significant name among Ottawa’s pending UFAs is veteran winger Claude Giroux. The 38-year-old, who is a veteran of over 1,300 NHL games, scored 49 points this season. He’s shown he can still be a productive member of an NHL middle-six, and it would not be a surprise if there is mutual interest in a contract extension.
- “It looks like” veteran defenseman Travis Hamonic‘s “time in Detroit is over,” writes Max Bultman of The Athletic. The 35-year-old defenseman, who has 926 career NHL games on his record, only got into 26 contests for Detroit after signing a UFA deal with the team last summer. Hamonic was squeezed out of head coach Todd McLellan’s lineup in large part due to the emergence of Axel Sandin Pellikka, a rookie who is among the Red Wings’ top prospects. When he did play, Hamonic averaged just 14:22 time on ice per game, the lowest mark of any Red Wings blueliner, and a solid step below where he was last season. (He averaged 17:04 time on ice per game as a Senator in 2024-25.) If Hamonic wants to continue his NHL career and make a push towards getting his 1,000th game, he’ll likely need to do so by signing with another team.
Poll: Will Brady Tkachuk Be On The Senators Next Season?
After being eliminated by the Carolina Hurricanes in Round One of the Stanley Cup playoffs, speculation has already begun regarding Brady Tkachuk‘s future with the Ottawa Senators. Tkachuk is one year away from being eligible for an extension, and the Senators may look to capitalize before it’s too late.
Tkachuk, 26, is a known commodity at this point. Outside of this season, he has remained healthy over his entire career, despite playing a notorious crash-and-bang style of hockey. He’s become a consistent top-six scorer over the last five years, to boot, registering 153 goals and 338 points in 374 games, averaging 18:26 of ice time.
Additionally, as mentioned, he does what many top-six wingers fail to do: embrace the physicality of the game. Averaging 3.36 hits per game since debuting in the 2018-19 season, Tkachuk has never shied away from the fight, always looking for a way to give his team an edge wherever he can.
Still, like many of his teammates, Tkachuk was a ghost against the Hurricanes. It was a much different performance than last postseason, when Tkachuk tallied four goals and seven points in six games against the Toronto Maple Leafs, totalling 30 hits. This spring, he went scoreless in the series sweep with a -4 rating, finishing with 13 hits.
Although it was a second consecutive year that Ottawa made the postseason, many feel that the team took a step back, and with good reason. Due to inconsistent goaltending, the Senators finished one win short of last season and did not demonstrate much, if any, competitiveness in the playoffs.
That’s not to say it’s Tkachuk’s fault, but he is billed as the heart and soul of the team, which the organization showed very little of against Carolina. Furthermore, if he is unhappy in Canada’s capital and has his heart set on returning to the United States, it would make some sense for the Senators to trade him this offseason in an attempt to shake up the locker room and avoid losing him for nothing in a few years.
Regardless, it’s not something Ottawa necessarily needs to think about right now. Tkachuk is signed through the 2027-28 season, and it’s hard to imagine Tkachuk’s trade stock radically changing, especially if he’s willing to negotiate an extension with any interested club. He also has a full no-movement clause in his contract, which began this season, so the terms will be dictated by him, anyway.
Now it’s time for you to take the crystal ball. Will the Senators move on from Tkachuk this offseason to jump-start the team, or will they pursue other changes, like a coaching hire or other roster-related moves in the meantime before deciding on Tkachuk’s future after next season? Vote below!
Will Brady Tkachuk Be On The Senators Next Season?
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No 61% (759)
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Yes 39% (492)
Total votes: 1,251
Morning Notes: Tkachuk, Kero, Schnarr
The offseason has begun earlier than just about everyone in the Ottawa Senators organization had hoped, with the team swept out of the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs last night. With Ottawa’s loss, focus has shifted to the future of the organization – and more specifically, the future of the team’s captain and franchise face: Brady Tkachuk. Sportsnet’s Alex Adams wrote that “next season could even be a last dance of sorts for this core” of Senators players. More specifically, Tkachuk’s “future and the chatter around him will hang over the team until he’s signed to an extension, is traded or walks away from the nation’s capital.”
The 26-year-old is now just two years away from unrestricted free agency, putting a definitive time frame on the Senators’ hopes of competing for a Stanley Cup. As much as Tkachuk struggled to make his mark against Carolina, he remains one of Ottawa’s most important players and a uniquely coveted asset across the league. The team isn’t able to sign Tkachuk to an extension just yet, but once that window opens, every day that passes without his signature will likely only heighten the speculation that he could see his future elsewhere, the way his brother, Matthew Tkachuk, did before being traded from the Calgary Flames to the Florida Panthers. That’s obviously an outcome the Senators will be desperate to avoid, and their planning for this offseason is likely to reflect a level of aggression designed to quickly strengthen the team to show Tkachuk Ottawa is a place where he can win a Stanley Cup.
Other notes from around the hockey world:
- Former Dallas Stars and Chicago Blackhawks forward Tanner Kero will depart the DEL’s Kölner Haie and become a free agent, according to a team announcement. The 134-game NHL veteran has spent the last two seasons playing in Europe, spending 2024-25 with the SHL’s HV71 and this past year with Cologne. He has been solid at each stop, scoring 22 points in 52 games in the SHL and 29 points in 41 games in Germany. He helped Cologne finish in first place in the DEL’s regular season standings but the club fell to Berlin in six games in the league semifinals.
- 2017 Arizona Coyotes third-round pick Nate Schnarr has also decided to depart Cologne and become a free agent after just one year in Germany. The 184-game AHL veteran has spent the last three years playing in Europe, his first two as a top scorer in Finland’s Liiga and this past year as a point-per-game scorer in Germany. He’s proven to be a capable top-six scoring forward in two of Europe’s better leagues, and is likely to receive considerable interest from clubs across the continent this summer.
Atlantic Notes: Tkachuk, Hovorka, Laughton, Viel
The Ottawa Senators have been without their captain, Brady Tkachuk, for the last few games of their regular season. Fortunately, his absence isn’t expected to creep into the playoffs, as TSN’s Bruce Garrioch reported that Tkachuk is “good to go” for the postseason.
The injury keeping Tkachuk is one of the weirder ones this season. In Ottawa’s recent game against the New York Islanders, Tkachuk was bumped by Islanders’ defenseman Ryan Pulock, causing Tkachuk to return to the bench while wobbling. In recent updates, Tkachuk clarified that his dizziness was unrelated to Pulock and resulted from a prior hit in the game. As of now, he has been cleared of all concussion symptoms.
Regardless, it’s big news for the Senators who are looking to pull off an upset in their opening-round matchup. The heart and soul of the team, Tkachuk has been irreplaceable for Ottawa, scoring 22 goals and 59 points in 60 games, while leveling 162 hits. Despite missing a decent chunk of the season due to injury, Tkachuk remains third on the team in scoring and is likely to finish there.
Additional notes from the Atlantic Division:
- According to George Richards of Florida Hockey Now, the Florida Panthers have recalled defenseman Mikulas Hovorka for their final game of the regular season tomorrow night. The 24-year-old blueliner has seen his name on the transaction report a few times this past month, allowing him to skate in three games for the Panthers. Still, the Praha, Czechia native remains looking for his first NHL point, and he’ll seek to change that tomorrow evening against the Detroit Red Wings.
- With the postseason pool finalized, the impact of conditional draft picks traded this season is now clear. According to PuckPedia, now that the Los Angeles Kings have qualified for the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs, the Toronto Maple Leafs will receive Buffalo’s 2026 second-round pick in the Scott Laughton trade.
- The Maple Leafs aren’t the only team in the Atlantic Division to reap the benefits of another team making the postseason. Since the Philadelphia Flyers made the playoffs, the Boston Bruins will receive the Red Wings’ 2026 fourth-round pick from the Anaheim Ducks in the trade that sent Jeffrey Viel to Orange County a few months ago (via PuckPedia).
Senators Notes: Yakemchuk, Sanderson, Tkachuk, Eller
It has been a rocky few weeks for Ottawa’s back end with the team having to use a dozen different blueliners since the Olympic break. At times, the injury recalls have turned around and gotten injured themselves. The latest was youngster Carter Yakemchuk who was injured on Tuesday against Florida.
Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports that the previously undisclosed injury for the 20-year-old is one that saw him enter concussion protocol. Accordingly, there is no timetable for his return. Yakemchuk is in his first professional season and has spent the majority of it with AHL Belleville, notching 10 goals and 26 assists in 50 games. Injuries necessitated a promotion earlier this month and he has an assist in four appearances with Ottawa while logging a little under 14 minutes per night of playing time.
There could be some good news on the horizon, however. Garrioch adds that Jake Sanderson took part in today’s optional skate in a regular (contact) jersey after having a non-contact sweater the day before. Sanderson is working his way back from a shoulder injury and could be cleared to return this weekend; they play Minnesota on Saturday and Carolina on Sunday. Sanderson is Ottawa’s top blueliner and has 48 points in 64 games this season while averaging just under 25 minutes per night of action.
Moving away from the back end, the league announced today that forward Brady Tkachuk was fined $2.5K for unsportsmanlike conduct in Thursday’s game against Buffalo. He slashed Beck Malenstyn from the bench, earning himself a two-minute minor on the play. The fine money goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.
Lastly, center Lars Eller achieved his final games played performance bonus earlier this week when he played in his 60th game, earning him another $250K. He received that at the 40-game mark as well. Eller has two more bonuses in his deal (which carries a $1.25MM base salary) but those are playoff-dependent. He’ll receive one if Ottawa can hold onto a playoff spot – they moved into the second Wild Card spot yesterday – while the other wouldn’t be earned unless the Sens make it to the Eastern Conference Final.
Ottawa’s Contention Window Could Be Short
The Senators have struggled to start the year, despite high hopes and promises that this would be the year they finally made some noise. However, some three months into the season, the only noise out of Ottawa is the collective sighs as the team’s inconsistency drives its most loyal supporters up the wall.
The Sens have a relatively young team, and with youth comes growing pains. But this group has been together for quite a while now, and it’s fair to wonder if this is who they are: a talented group of individual players who, together, form a flawed team with a window to win that grows smaller by the day.
When the Senators began tearing apart their core in 2018, it was clear that dark days lay ahead, but in the background, there was always hope for a brighter future, and for good reason. Many of the teams that tore down their roster to the studs rebuilt their systems and competed for Stanley Cups.
Whenever fans discussed the bottom-out rebuild, they would bring up the Penguins, Blackhawks, Kings and Lightning, and the collective 10 Stanley Cups those four teams won over 12 years. However, tearing down the roster was never a guarantee of success.
For every Chicago or Pittsburgh, you had a Buffalo or Edmonton. Teams that had bottomed out, but never built anything worth talking about. And now, with the Senators nearing the halfway point of the season at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings, it’s fair to start asking whether they are more Buffalo than Chicago.
Ottawa is still framed as a team on the rise. They are young, talented, and one would think poised to break through once the pieces fall into place.
But aren’t the pieces already in place? You would think so, given the players they’ve brought in over the past five years, such as Jakob Chychrun and Alex DeBrincat, two men who were brought in for a season or two and shuffled out quickly. Ottawa likely pounced too early when they brought in those players, sensing they were closer to winning than they actually were, and exposing some of the problematic elements of a rebuild that are often forgotten.
The Senators have a ton of talent in their core. There is no doubting that.
Just because a core is talented doesn’t mean there is synchronicity. Ottawa has some pieces nearing their prime, while others have long passed it, and some are just learning what it takes to be a full-time NHLer and are being asked to do too much. Talent isn’t really the issue in Ottawa; timing is.
In fairness to the Senators, they did most of what a rebuilding team is supposed to do. They hit on their top picks (Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stützle), had some big trade wins by shipping out veterans (Erik Karlsson), and signed their top stars to very reasonable contracts (Jake Sanderson, Stützle, Tkachuk). But once those players are signed, it becomes much more challenging to layer the roster with inexpensive depth, and that is generally done through drafting, which the Senators have struggled with outside the first round. This has begun to rear its head.
There has long been a mentality among Senators fans that the team would figure out who to surround their stars with later on, but the time to figure it out is now, and they don’t look like they have the solutions. The trouble with a competitive window in the case of the Senators is that when you make big bets and lose, the window to win doesn’t get delayed or kicked down the road; it shrinks. The Senators could be in the midst of finding that out.
The Senators’ stars have been out of the development stage for a few years now, and one has to wonder how long their star players will remain patient. They were supposed to be past the learning years and into the progression years, and while last year felt like a step in the right direction, this year feels like two steps back, with little help on the way in the form of prospects or significant additions.
Ottawa’s farm system ranks bottom-10 in the league (23rd on Elite Prospects, 25th on Daily Faceoff), and they are without a first-round pick this year. They have a healthy stash of draft picks outside of that, but don’t have a ton of cap room to make major splashes.
Speaking of the salary cap, Ottawa has $23MM available next summer with eight players to sign (per PuckPedia). Assuming defensive prospect Carter Yakemchuk makes the jump to the NHL, that leaves Ottawa with around $22MM and seven players to sign to NHL deals.
That’s not a bad number by any stretch, but realistically, they will be looking to sign a top-four right-handed defenseman, a top-six winger, a backup goaltender, and a few bottom-six forwards. It’s not a daunting task, but it doesn’t leave much wiggle room, and you have to wonder whether their roster will be much better next year.
And make no mistake, the years are about to matter a whole lot more to the players on the roster and the team. Drake Batherson has one year remaining on his deal after this one, as does defenseman Artem Zub, while the likes of Tkachuk and defenseman Thomas Chabot have two.
Batherson has been a massive bargain on his current deal, carrying a cap hit of just $4.975MM on a six-year deal and delivering 60-plus points per season. Batherson is also consistently in the lineup, having dressed for 82 games in each of the previous three seasons. His defensive play, on the other hand, is not something to write home about, but that can be said for many goal-scoring wingers in the NHL.
Batherson has given Ottawa a ton of value over the life of his current contract, and like it or not, he’s going to want to claw a lot of that back on his next deal, which figures to be a seven-year deal and will probably top teammate Shane Pinto’s $7.5MM deal. Does Ottawa want to pay Batherson $8MM or more annually? Hard to say, but they can’t get that deal wrong, and what kind of message would it send to trade him right before the Tkachuk negotiations start?
Speaking of Tkachuk, he is the heart of the team and one heck of a competitor. You have to believe that if Ottawa can’t show forward progress in the next 18 months, he won’t be in a hurry to sign a long-term deal with the Senators when he is eligible to do so in July 2027.
Tkachuk negotiated in a very tactical and aggressive way during the last round of contract talks, and you have to believe he won’t be an easy player to lock up long-term if real results aren’t shown. Tkachuk is being paid handsomely at the moment, carrying an AAV north of $8.2MM. Steve Warne of The Hockey News has reported previously that his father, Keith Tkachuk, doesn’t believe he will leave Ottawa, but losing does a lot, as does winning, and Ottawa’s results will have a lot of say in what Tkachuk does.
The Senators have no choice but to win often and soon. They can ill afford to let the years go by without success. Windows to win don’t usually slam shut; they close quietly when contracts age poorly, teams fail to develop players, and depth erodes. It happened to those aforementioned Stanley Cup champions, in Chicago’s case, much earlier than expected and in Pittsburgh’s case, much later. It will happen to Ottawa at some point, and the question is whether they will win before it does. Much of that will be determined over the next 18 months.
Photo by Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports
Senators Activate Brady Tkachuk
The Senators have activated Brady Tkachuk from injured reserve as expected, the team announced. He’ll suit up in this afternoon’s contest against the Blues. Ottawa needs to open a roster spot to activate him, which they’ve done by reassigning forward Stephen Halliday to AHL Belleville.
Tkachuk managed just three appearances this season before a check from Predators captain Roman Josi sent him into the boards. He sustained ligament damage in his right thumb in the collision that required surgery. He was initially expected to miss four weeks, but his return timeline was altered to six to seven weeks after the procedure was complete. That makes today’s return right on schedule.
The Senators’ captain is in year five of the seven-year, $57.56MM extension he signed in 2021 and recorded three assists and a +1 rating through his first three outings before going under the knife. His $8.205MM cap hit stands among the better value deals in the league. He’s coming off a down year offensively, limited to 29 goals and 55 points in 72 games, but he’s a consistent 30-goal threat and one of the league’s premier power forwards. He hasn’t recorded fewer than 200 hits in a season since his rookie year and is a consensus top-10 left-winger in the league, judging by his All-Star voting results over the past three seasons.
Tkachuk has also been remarkably durable since entering the league in 2018, particularly given his style of play. This 20-game absence was the lengthiest of his career by a wide margin and already stands as the most cumulative missed time he’s registered in a single season. To the Sens’ credit, they overcame his absence as well as anyone could have hoped for. Entering play Friday, they sit second in the Atlantic Division with a 12-7-4 record – that’s after starting the year in a 2-4-1 hole. They’ve been a middle-of-the-pack team offensively, but their team defense has come alive to overcompensate for the poor goaltending they’ve received from both Linus Ullmark and Leevi Merilainen. At 5-on-5, the Sens rank fourth in the league in shot attempts against per 60 (51.6), third in shots on goal against per 60 (23.5), and first in expected goals against per 60 (2.15).
While Ottawa sacrificing offense for defense will likely contribute to another underwhelming scoring line from Tkachuk the rest of the way, his return gives their top nine a much more complete look and allows names like Nick Cousins and David Perron, both of whom were overtaxed in top-line duties filling in for Tkachuk alongside Tim Stützle, to return to more comfortable bottom-six minutes.
As for Halliday, his first recall of the season ends after four games. The 23-year-old center was a fourth-round pick back in 2022 and made his NHL debut after a series of strong training camps and minor-league performances. He’d served as the Sens’ fourth-line pivot between Cousins and Hayden Hodgson during his call-up, recording an assist and a -1 rating in just 6:27 of ice time per game. He went 4-for-11 (36.4%) on faceoffs and recorded three hits.
East Notes: Tkachuk, Eller, Rempe, Dowd
The Senators haven’t had captain Brady Tkachuk available for most of the season as he has missed the last 16 games with a thumb injury. The team has fared relatively well in his absence, compiling an 8-4-4 record without him but it’s fair to say that they’re still missing their captain. The good news for the Sens is that he might not be out much longer. On his latest Wingmen podcast (audio link), Tkachuk indicated that he’s hoping to return around Thanksgiving. When he underwent surgery in mid-October, the recovery timeline was six to seven weeks so returning next week would fall within that range. Tkachuk had 55 points in 72 games last season and assuming there are no late setbacks, he’ll soon give a big boost to an Ottawa attack that enters the night around the middle of the pack offensively, sitting 13th in goals scored.
Elsewhere in the East:
- Still with the Senators, center Lars Eller won’t play on Thursday due to an undisclosed injury, notes Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch (Twitter link). The 36-year-old has been a regular in Ottawa’s bottom six this season, picking up two goals and four assists in 19 games while logging a little more than 13 minutes a game of playing time. There’s no word yet on how long he might be out for.
- Rangers winger Matt Rempe has resumed skating as he works his way back from an upper-body injury, mentions Mollie Walker of the New York Post (Twitter link). Head coach Mike Sullivan noted that while there’s no timetable for his return, he’s up to skating three days on, one day off which is a promising sign. Rempe has a goal, nine penalty minutes, and 30 hits in nine outings so far this season while getting a bit more ice time under Sullivan, logging nearly 10 minutes a night.
- Capitals center Nic Dowd missed tonight’s game against Edmonton due to an upper-body injury, relays NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti (Twitter link). The 35-year-old is in the first season of a two-year, $6MM deal but has struggled offensively. After notching double-digit goals in each of the last five years, Dowd has just one through his first 19 outings. Bailey Johnson of The Washington Post adds (Twitter link) that the middleman won’t accompany the team to Montreal for their game on Thursday and will be evaluated further.
Brady Tkachuk Out 6-7 Weeks Following Hand Surgery
Oct. 16: Tkachuk underwent surgery to repair a ligament issue in his right hand in New York today, Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia reports. The procedure extends his return timeline to six to seven weeks and, with the clock resetting to today, won’t be back in the lineup until Thanksgiving at the earliest. That’s a 20-game minimum absence, including last night’s loss to the Sabres.
Oct. 14: Senators captain Brady Tkachuk will miss at least four weeks due to the right wrist injury he sustained in yesterday’s game against the Predators, head coach Travis Green said (via Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia). They’ve yet to decide on whether surgery is required. If so, his return timeline will be extended.
Tkachuk sustained the injury early in the game. While on the power play, he took a cross-check from Nashville captain Roman Josi near the goal line that carried enough force to cause Tkachuk to fall forward into the boards, bending his right wrist awkwardly in the process. He didn’t immediately leave the game but ended up taking his last shift midway through the third period. Green said immediately after the match that Tkachuk was going for evaluation and that his absence wasn’t precautionary.
This will stand as Tkachuk’s largest absence to date. While he’s missed games due to injury in four of his seven full NHL seasons, none of them were serious enough to warrant lengthy recovery times. The most time he ever missed was nine games due to a leg injury early in his rookie season. His four-week minimum means his earliest return is Nov. 11 against the Stars, meaning at least a 13-game absence for the star winger.
Thankfully for Ottawa, they have a relatively easy stretch of games ahead. Only three of those 13 contests are against teams that made the playoffs last season. They’ve gotten off to a tough start, though, especially defensively. They’re 1-2-0 through their first three contests and have yet to give up fewer than four goals, averaging a 4.67 GA/GP mark that ranks 31st in the league. While their 26.0 shots against per game figure is sixth-best in the NHL, their 64.3% success rate on the penalty kill – fifth-worst in the league – hasn’t helped matters. Linus Ullmark has also allowed a league-worst 5.4 goals above expected in his three starts, per MoneyPuck. Tkachuk doesn’t factor in shorthanded, so in that sense, his absence won’t mean much as Ottawa looks to address its biggest early-season weaknesses.
His missing offense and intangibles will, though. Tkachuk had three assists and a +1 rating through his first three outings and, although his 29-26–55 scoring line in 72 games last year was underwhelming by his standards, he received Hart Trophy consideration for the first time as he captained Ottawa to its first playoff berth since 2017. Despite missing a good portion of yesterday’s contest, he still ranks third on the team so far with 10 hits, is tied for the team lead with 21 shot attempts, and has controlled possession well with a 56.5 CF% at even strength.
Now, it’ll be mid-November until he’s consistently in the mix this season. The Senators can place him on injured reserve whenever they need a roster spot. That will likely come in conjunction with activating Drake Batherson, who is expected to come off IR before tomorrow’s game, according to Garrioch. Tkachuk is eligible for long-term injured reserve as well and can yield up to $3.82MM in cap relief, but with the Sens already banking over $2.45MM in space, that won’t be necessary, at least for now.
Luckily for the Sens, they don’t have any mounting injuries behind their leader. They have all available options, including Batherson, to elevate into top-line duties alongside Tim Stützle and Fabian Zetterlund in his absence.