The Ottawa Senators are still hoping to sign rugged forward Brady Tkachuk while negotiations between the two camps are ongoing. The Sens also need to re-sign Drake Batherson, along with goaltender Filip Gustavsson, who didn’t have the right to file for arbitration like Tkachuk.
But as you can understand, all eyes are on the latter, who is set to become the face of the franchise, one that isn’t afraid to get under rivals’ skin on the ice.
However, he may have just gotten under management’s skin with what’s happening in contact negotiations. While Tkachuk loves his teammates in Ottawa, he would like to see what GM Pierre Dorion and owner Eugene Melnyk plan to do to keep players on the roster long-term.
Defenseman Thomas Chabot is one that has signed long-term, but only one other player, Colin White, is inked until 2024-25. Tkachuk would like to see the Senators make a definite plan to get a strong roster together in order to chase the Stanley Cup and is believed to have made that demand quite clear with management amidst their negotiations, per TSN's Shawn Simpson:
The Senators surely have a great deal of promising prospects in the bank, but it will take time to get them to contend, and then, it will take money to keep them around.
Tkachuk, who’s still four years away from free agency, is not looking to sign a bridge deal of a couple of years, but he needs to know what the team’s long-term plan is to make a sound decision.
And so it sounds like Brady, just like brother Matthew with the Calgary Flames, isn’t yet willing to commit long-term to the Senators unless they can show him that they are serious about contending for a Stanley Cup and getting the money on the table and talented players on board to do so.
This sounds like an ultimatum, and we wonder who will come out on top in this one. Let’s hope it does not hinder negotiations: the Senators cannot lose Tkachuk.
