OTTAWA — Expectations are changing for Brady Tkachuk.
The Ottawa Senators captain, fresh off a six-game defeat at the hands of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Eastern Conference First Round, hasn’t had enough time to properly reflect on the 2024-25 season yet, but dreaming of what next season holds for his budding group is easy.
“The disappointment comes from knowing that, where we’re at and where we’re going to get to, our end goal is something that isn’t really a pipe dream anymore,” Tkachuk said Saturday, when the Senators gathered for the last time this season before cleaning out their lockers. “We’re going to continue to get better. … It’s all about just growing as players, growing as a group and knowing that we want to win the Stanley Cup. Just getting into the playoffs isn’t good enough anymore.”
For the first time in eight years, Ottawa qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, as the first wild card into the postseason from the East (45-30-7, 97 points). Along with 11 of his teammates and a new generation of local fans, it was the first playoff experience for Tkachuk, who the Senators selected with the No. 4 pick in the 2018 NHL Draft.
“The energy, the excitement, the atmosphere,” Tkachuk said, “this is the only way I can kind of describe it; it’s almost addicting to be able to play in front of that. It was truly the best atmosphere I’ve ever played in. It was so special. And all the credit goes to the fans, this community in just how special it was.
“Every morning, I couldn’t tell you how excited I was just to step on the ice, those rally towels, that just fire and excitement that the fans had. I’d been waiting for a long eight years to share that with them.”
Viewed as a big-game player who thrives in the spotlight, Tkachuk lived up to that billing in the fifth playoff edition of the Battle of Ontario and led Ottawa with seven points (four goals, three assists) in the series.
After a 4-3 overtime win in Game 4 to stave off elimination, Tkachuk repeatedly shouted, “We’ll be back!” during a postgame celebratory twirl in front of a jubilant home crowd. And he kept his promise, with a goal and two assists in a 4-0 win in Game 5 in Toronto to help drag the Maple Leafs back to the nation’s capital for one more.
“He leads by example,” Ottawa forward Dylan Cozens said, “whether it’s throwing a big hit or fighting someone or scoring a goal, he does it all. To have that guy leading your team, it’s exactly what you want. To follow him into battle every night, it’s awesome. You never liked playing against him, but I always had a lot of respect for him and his game, so now that I get to play alongside him, it’s awesome.”
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