Brady Tkachuk clears the air on his future with Ottawa Senators after first-round playoff exit

Brady Tkachuk is still digesting being eliminated from his first trip to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Ottawa Senators' captain had to wait seven years before making his postseason debut, and he was cherishing every second of the experience.

Despite his excellent play, Ottawa dug itself too deep of an early series hole, eventually losing in six games to the rival Toronto Maple Leafs. Tkachuk is still not over the loss, wishing there had been a Game 7 on Saturday night. However, that's not the case, and on Saturday came closure with end-of-season media availabilities.

When asked about all of the rumors suggesting he'll one day leave Ottawa, Tkachuk shut them down, expressing his love for the city and organization. Sportsnet shared the video of his comments on X (formerly Twitter).

"Obviously, it's a lie. All of those articles, stories, it's just not true. But I think it's on me if I let that bother me or take me off what I'm trying to do. Everybody knows that I'll do whatever it takes to win. And seeing this fanbase, this excitement, see how much they rallied around us, everybody's waiting for it. Everybody wants to accomplish and win the Stanley Cup," Tkachuk said.

"And I know we have a great group in here, and I know we're just gonna get that much better. I know there's some amazing times, memories here down the road. But I think with all that stuff, it's obviously not true. I wanna play here; I wanna win here. And I really believe in everyone in this organization and that everyone wants to win here," Tkachuk said.

Brady Tkachuk has another three years remaining on his seven-year, $57,564,958 contract extension signed with the Senators in 2021.

Brady Tkachuk spoke about his late-season injury

Saturday was the first time Brady Tkachuk opened up about the upper-body injury that sidelined him from eight games near the end of the regular season.

It appeared to occur during a collision with Penguins defenseman Ryan Graves on March 30. The 25-year-old didn't want to give too much information on the specifics. Senators reporter Claire Hanna shared his comments on X.

"I don't want to diagnose and put it out there, lets just say it’s something you can’t really play through," Tkachuk said.

Despite missing 10 games because of various injuries, Brady Tkachuk still managed to produce 55 points (29 goals, 26 assists) in 72 games played during the 2024-25 regular season.

He will look to return to full health over the summer and enter 2025-26 with a chip on his shoulder after losing in the first round of the playoffs.