The Ottawa Senators made it official Tuesday. Thomas Chabot is the new captain, and he inherits the C from Brady Tkachuk.
The timing is loud. Tkachuk is a Florida Panther now, and the Senators needed a new voice in that room before Saturday's opener in Toronto.
Nobody has to give the 29-year-old a tour of the building. Every one of his 569 regular-season NHL games has come in a Senators sweater.
The Senators drafted him 18th overall in 2015. Three drafts later, Ottawa spent the fourth overall pick on Tkachuk.
For eight seasons, the two shared a dressing room. Tkachuk's Ottawa run ended with 213 goals, and that kind of scoring doesn't walk back through the door.
The club's caption called it the moment the captaincy became a reality. For a guy whose NHL debut came back in 2016-17, it sure took a while.
In the Senators' video, a man in a pale checked blazer stands at the front of the room, rink diagrams on the whiteboard behind him, players lining the edges.
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Ottawa's October 21 date with Brady Tkachuk's new team
Circle Wednesday, October 21. That's when the Panthers come to Ottawa, game 10 on the Senators' schedule, and the night this whole thing gets real.
The whole setup feels like the roommate who has paid rent the longest finally getting his name on the lease, right as the loudest guy in the apartment moves south.
Chabot posted 31 points in 57 games last season, a steady number more than a flashy one.
His best year remains 2018-19, when he piled up 55 points, 41 of them assists.
The more telling line sits in the plus/minus column. He was on the wrong side of even for seven straight full seasons, then flipped to a +17 rating in 2024-25.
Does a defenseman with that history deserve the letter? Absolutely, because the guy who stuck around through the ugly years earned the first word in that room.
The playoff résumé is still thin, with four points in 10 postseason games. No letter on a sweater fixes that part by itself.
The first week won't be gentle. The Senators play Boston and Detroit on a road back-to-back before the home opener against Philadelphia on October 8.
Exhibition play didn't offer much comfort, either. The Senators went 1-3-1, closing with a 4-3 win over Montreal last Saturday.
Then there's the money. Chabot carries an $8,000,000 cap hit through 2027-28, the same season Tkachuk's contract expires.
The C belongs to him now. Whether it stays on that sweater once unrestricted free agency comes calling is the question hanging over Steve Staios.
Is Thomas Chabot the right captain for the Senators after Brady Tkachuk?
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