Travis Green just admitted, on the record, that Brady Tkachuk's trade request genuinely upset him.
"I was a little upset when I heard about it," Green said. "Why wouldn't I be? He's a big part of our team."
That's a coach not hiding behind the usual professional distance. This one clearly stung.
Green said he even talked about it on a podcast afterward, admitting flat out that he was mad.
He pointed to the relationship he and Tkachuk built over two years together as exactly why the request landed so hard.
But Green also caught himself, noting he was a player once too, and players have to do what's right for their own careers.
Tkachuk put up 59 points in 60 games for Ottawa before the trade sent him to Florida to join his brother Matthew.
Why Green's own words tell a bigger story here
"It's not a huge talking point for us anymore," Green said, drawing a clear line between his team and its fan base.
He was direct about that gap. The players have moved on, in his words. The fans, he admitted, probably haven't.
That's an interesting thing for a coach to say out loud, essentially separating the locker room's mood from the building's mood.
Ottawa finished last season 44-27-11, ninth overall in the league, proof the room clearly didn't collapse without its former captain.
Shane Pinto stepped into a bigger offensive role in the aftermath, putting up 46 points in 72 games himself.
Green stood by his earlier comments too, repeating that he still means what he said about being upset in the moment.
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That consistency matters. He's not walking back the emotion, just framing it as normal instead of a lingering problem.
Is a coach admitting he was mad actually a bigger story than the trade itself? In hockey markets like Ottawa, probably yes.
Green called the fan base's passion "the great thing about playing in Canada," even while acknowledging it keeps the story alive.
For Ottawa, the trade is officially old news inside the room. Outside it, Green just handed the fan base fresh reason to keep talking.
Is it a bad look for Travis Green to admit he was mad at Brady Tkachuk's trade request?
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