TSN’s annual Top 50 list of NHL players is set to be unveiled starting on Monday, but one of the biggest names in the off-season just missed the cut.
Newly minted Florida Panthers forward Brady Tkachuk just missed out on the top 50, landing at No. 51 on this season’s list. He falls off the top 50 list after landing at No. 37 last season.
Tkachuk, 26, registered 22 goals and 59 points in 60 games with the Ottawa Senators last season after missing time early due to a thumb injury. He did not record a point in the playoffs as the Senators were swept by the eventual Stanley Cup-champion Carolina Hurricanes in the first round.
With Tkachuk entering the sixth season of a seven-year, $57.5 million contract, questions surrounded the Scottsdale, Ariz., native about his plans for the future in Ottawa and his commitment to the team.
“I feel like I’ve answered this hundreds of times,” Tkachuk said in late April. “None of those things ever came out of my mouth. Quite honestly, it’s just getting frustrating. It’s becoming a distraction. I have been fully committed to this team, to this city, and it’s just become a distraction and frustrating to deal with.”
About two months after those comments, it was known that Tkachuk requested a trade from the Senators to the Panthers, which was consummated prior to the NHL Draft. Florida sent Ottawa two first-round picks in the 2026 NHL Draft, a top-10 protected first-round pick in the 2029 NHL Draft, and a second-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft.
When asked this week what changed since his end-of-season comments, Tkachuk spoke of the emotional toll of what the decision entailed.
“A lot of time, a lot of reflection, and it wasn’t an easy decision,” Tkachuk told reporters on Wednesday. “It was a really, really hard decision, and something that was emotional. It took a lot of time to get to that.”
Drafted fourth overall by the Senators in 2018, Tkachuk has 213 goals and 463 points in 572 career games in eight seasons playing in Ottawa.
He became the 10th captain in franchise history in November of 2021 and helped the Senators end an eight-year playoff drought when the team claimed a wild-card spot in the 2024-25 campaign.
Tkachuk joins a Florida squad that won back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2024 and 2025 but took a step back last season, missing the playoffs with a 40-38-4 record.
He is united with his brother, Matthew, who he teamed up with last February as part of the United States’ run to a gold medal at Milano Cortina 2026.
The Panthers’ Stanley Cup core remains intact with the team also expecting to have captain Aleksander Barkov back after he missed the entire 2025-26 season while recovering from ACL and MCL injuries.
After playing into June for two straight seasons, the Panthers were able to have a full off-season of rest as the team looks to return to the top of the Atlantic Division. Like Brady, Matthew missed significant time due to injuries last season, and all indications are that he’s fully healthy and ready to start the 2026-27 campaign.
The only injury question mark for the Panthers surrounds star winger Brad Marchand, who announced that he underwent surgery in August.
According to George Richards of Florida Hockey Now, Marchand is believed to be dealing with a hip and sports hernia injury, adding the surgery could keep him sidelined to start the 2026-27 season.
The 38-year-old forward recorded 27 goals and 54 points in only 52 games last season and had his season end prematurely in March due to a lower-body injury.
Tkachuk sees how hungry the team is to return to the top of the mountain and is looking forward to building on a championship core.
“You can just feel the energy and excitement,” Tkachuk said. “Last year didn’t go the way that they wanted, what they expected, and just the motivation … They’re not even talking about the two Cups. They’re talking about last year and how they want to get back to where they wanted to be.
“You can see it, the commitment to get back there. I know everybody’s champing at the bit to get the season going, and we just can’t wait for the next week and a half.”
