Brady Tkachuk in Florida: the trade, the brothers and a gritty first week

The Florida Panthers sat on their bench in Raleigh and watched someone else's party. Before the season opener on Sept. 29, the Carolina Hurricanes carried out the Stanley Cup, did the Storm Surge and raised a championship banner. Florida had hung two of those in 2024 and 2025. This time it was the guest.

Brady Tkachuk watched it too. It was his first regular-season game in a Panthers sweater, and the first NHL game he had ever played on the same team as his older brother, Matthew.

The game was scoreless deep into overtime and looked headed for a shootout. Then Carter Verhaeghe carried the puck in, dropped it back to Gustav Forsling, and Forsling's one-timer beat Brandon Bussi with 4.3 seconds left. Florida won 1-0 on the champions' banner night.

"That was a grind of a game," Brady said afterward, per NHL.com.

Grind is a fair word for his whole first week in Florida. Here is how the brothers ended up together, and what three games have shown so far.

A trade that felt inevitable

Ottawa sent Brady to Florida on Sunday, June 21. The Senators took draft picks, not players: the No. 9 pick in the 2026 draft, a second 2026 first-rounder (No. 25, which Florida had landed earlier that day by sending Mackie Samoskevich to Seattle), a 2027 second-round pick and a conditional 2029 first.

Ottawa gave up far more than a forward. The Senators drafted Brady fourth overall in 2018, and he spent eight seasons there, the last five as captain. Over that stretch nobody on the club scored more goals (213) or points (463), and nobody threw more hits (1,921). He put up 59 points in 60 games last season.

What Ottawa never did with him was win a playoff series. His last postseason ended in a first-round sweep by Carolina, the team that went on to win the Cup. In the spring he had publicly committed to the Senators. After the deal, general manager Steve Staios said the thing that changed was a trade request.

A partnership already tested

The brothers had already tried this on bigger stages. They played together for Team USA at the 4 Nations Face-Off in February 2025, then again at the Milan Cortina Olympics in February 2026, where the American men won gold for the first time since 1980. Brady had five points in six Olympic games. Matthew had six assists.

The Florida connection runs deeper than one dressing room. Their father is NHL legend Keith Tkachuk, and their parents keep a home in Florida and show up regularly at Panthers games. Brady sat in the stands at Amerant Bank Arena when his brother won the Cup in 2024 and again in 2025. Panthers GM Bill Zito also worked with USA Hockey during the last Olympic cycle, so the relationships were already there.

Zito sold the deal on edge. He described Brady as about as physical and relentless as any forward in the league. Brady proved the point before the regular season even started. In his first preseason game for Florida he had a goal and an assist, then dropped the gloves after an opponent sent captain Aleksander Barkov into the boards with a hit the Panthers thought went too far.

"Brady fits right into the need that we had," coach Paul Maurice said.

Off the ice, the two co-host a weekly show called the Wingmen Podcast. On the ice, the Panthers want the version of Matthew that turned them from a good regular-season team into a three-time Cup finalist, now with a bigger, younger brother next to him.

Week one: hits first, points later

Three games in, the box scores tell a consistent story.

• Sept. 29 at Carolina, won 1-0 in OT. Brady skated 16:33 on a line with Barkov and Sam Reinhart, and he lined up with Matthew on the first power-play unit. He finished with 1 shot, 5 hits and a goalie interference penalty. Jacob Markstrom stopped all 15 shots in his first game back with Florida.
• Oct. 1 at San Jose, lost 4-3 in OT. Brady fought Jacob Trouba in the first period. Florida fell behind 3-0, then Eetu Luostarinen scored twice and Matthew tied it at 5:18 of the third. Luostarinen's second goal and Matthew's tying goal came 17 seconds apart. Luca Cagnoni won it at 3:14 of overtime. Brady had 4 shots and 5 hits. The bigger blow came in the second period, when Barkov left after his left knee appeared to buckle in a scrum along the boards.
• Oct. 4 at Anaheim, lost 3-2 in OT. Brad Marchand, playing his first game of the season, made it 2-2 with 1:50 to go after Florida pulled Markstrom for an extra skater. Mikael Granlund won it on a power play 4:14 into overtime. Brady had 4 shots and 4 hits.

Add it up and Brady has no points yet, 9 shots on goal and 14 hits. Matthew has a goal and an assist. Florida is 1-0-2, and every game has gone past 60 minutes.

The lineup around them has already shifted. Barkov sat out all of last season after knee surgery, came back for two games, and is now out again with a significant left leg injury. The AP reported that the Panthers placed him on long-term injured reserve. That puts more of the load on the Tkachuks. The trip ends Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET in Los Angeles against the Kings.

What it means on the board

• Shots on goal. Brady has put 4 on net in each of the last two games while getting roughly six minutes of power-play time a night. Volume and role are what shot props track, and his have been steady even with no points.
• Points. He had 59 points in 60 games last season and has none through three. Three games is a small sample. We weigh the shot volume and his steady power-play minutes more than an empty scoresheet, and we never treat a cold start as a reason a player has to score.
• Totals and overtime. All three Florida games reached overtime, with goal totals of 1, 7 and 5. That spread is why we read each matchup and goalie on its own instead of leaning on a team label.
• Without Barkov. Losing the captain changes the center depth and the penalty kill. That shows up in how we read the moneyline, the puck line and Florida's team total, not just star props.

For tonight's research, start at the NHL board and free picks, see how Sunday's game graded in the Panthers vs. Ducks recap, and brush up on how a player prop works.

21+. Research and commentary, not betting advice.