Thomas Chabot didn't hold back on Brady Tkachuk's decision to leave Ottawa.
The veteran defenseman addressed his former captain's exit directly, and the honesty stood out immediately.
"You want guys who want to be here. You want guys to want to be part of this team and city," Chabot said.
"When you see something like that, I'd be lying to say I was happy when he decided to leave," he added.
Chabot didn't stop there, pointing to exactly where he felt the team stood before Tkachuk's exit became real.
"We felt like we're on the verge of starting to make playoffs," he said.
That line carries real weight given Ottawa actually did make the playoffs last season, finishing 44-27-11 and ninth overall in the league.
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Thomas Chabot's Brady Tkachuk comments just added fuel to an already heated situation
Chabot himself posted 7 goals and 24 assists for 31 points across 57 games last season on an $8,000,000 cap hit.
He also appeared in 4 playoff games, giving him a direct view of exactly the kind of season Tkachuk was reportedly ready to walk away from.
Wanting teammates fully committed to the city and the team isn't an unreasonable standard, especially from a player this invested himself.
It's the hockey equivalent of a coworker admitting they were genuinely hurt when a teammate quit right as the department finally started clicking.
Is it fair to publicly question a teammate's commitment, even gently, once that teammate has already been traded elsewhere?
Comments like these tend to resonate more than generic tribute-video language precisely because they sound unscripted and real.
My take: this reads less like resentment and more like genuine disappointment from someone who believed the group was actually building toward something real.
Ottawa's tribute video for Tkachuk is still reportedly coming, and Chabot's comments add a layer of honesty that ceremony alone can't provide.
Ottawa moves forward with Tkachuk now in Florida, and Chabot's words suggest the locker room noticed exactly what left with him.
Was Thomas Chabot right to be so honest about Tkachuk leaving?
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