Brady Tkachuk had a list of teams he refused to join, and it shows how the Ottawa Senators lost control of his trade.
The report landed Monday night, courtesy of Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic.
Tkachuk did not want to go to St-Louis. That single detail changes how you read the entire Senators sell-off.
Ottawa's captain, holding veto power over a contender's blue line, backed the front office into a corner before a single offer sheet got serious.
Jeremy Rutherford: The Senators' Brady Tkachuk didn't want to come to St. Louis. There were conflicting reports about whether the Stars' Jason Robertson was interested.
A no-trade list is one thing. Refusing the Blues, a club his own father knows inside and out, is a different kind of statement.
Rutherford tossed out another name in the same breath. Jason Robertson of the Stars got mixed up in conflicting reports about Dallas's summer interest.
Robertson is a side note here. Tkachuk is the story, and the fact that he steered his own market is what matters.
Florida already has a St-Louis problem of its own
Funny enough, the team that landed him has its own history with the Blues. Florida went 0-2 against St-Louis this season, both losses.
That is the club Tkachuk wanted no part of, and it is the club that already beat his new team twice.
Ottawa finished 9th overall with 99 points under Andrew Campbell. Florida finished 25th with 84 points and a minus-25 goal differential.
That gap alone should make Panthers fans ask why Bill Zito pushed this hard for a captain who dictated terms on his own exit.
Tkachuk still delivered offense in Florida colors, with 22 goals and 37 assists for 59 points across 60 games this season.
He added five power play goals and three game-winners in that stretch, numbers that justify the term top six without much argument.
The playoff sample was rougher. Four games, no goals, no assists, and a minus-4 rating with the Panthers.
His cap hit sits at 8,205,714 dollars, a number that only grows heavier if the fit with Paul Maurice's lineup does not click fast.
Doug Armstrong and Jim Montgomery run the Blues roster Tkachuk avoided, and nothing here suggests that door reopens anytime soon.
Brady Tkachuk keeps insisting he never forced his way out of Ottawa. Rutherford's reporting makes that line a lot harder to sell.
-
Did Brady Tkachuk cross a line by blocking a trade to St-Louis?
Also read on Markerzone.com:
Bettman's next nightmare? Another NHL team could soon relocate
