Brady Tkachuk’s name has suddenly surfaced on social media trade chatter.
Just to be clear, the Ottawa Senators have zero intention of trading their star captain.
“Complete B.S.,’’ Steve Staios, president of hockey operations and GM of the Senators, said Monday when asked to comment on the rumors. “We are building this team around Brady. His leadership and unique skill set are rare.
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“There is absolutely no validity to it.’’
It’s the second time I’ve asked Staios about this subject. Back in February, I asked him about Ryan Whitney’s tweet, which suggested the Senators “maybe’’ moving Tkachuk before the March 8 trade deadline.
“Ah yeah, that could not be further from the truth,’’ Staios said with a chuckle back on Feb. 28. “I don’t follow on social media. I do get our communications people alert me to things like that. There’s obviously no truth to that. Like, we’re building the team around Brady Tkachuk, and the type of person, the type of player and the type of leader that he is. He means everything to the organization. And he brings it every night along with our core group of players. It’s a matter of time and a matter of nurturing this group.
“When I talk about bringing in veteran players, it’s really to support this young group and to support Brady and Tim (Stützle) and the rest of the group. Claude Giroux has done a phenomenal job of that. But you can always use those guys … we’re the fifth-youngest team in the league, you know? So say we’re three years younger than these Stanley Cup contending types of teams, but it’s three years younger across the board. So that adds up to a lot of years and a lot of games played. Really, that’s really it. But certainly, Brady is the leader that we need in this room. He is everything as advertised, and I’m just looking to do my best to support him.’’
And I think what’s probably happening here is Whitney’s tweet has created a memory bank for some folks, which is not surprising because the “Spittin’ Chiclets” podcast is a powerful voice in the game. They also break news sometimes.
But as far as the Senators GM is concerned, there is no gray area here. The Senators have no intention whatsoever to get into that conversation with any team.
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Necas, however …
On the flip side of things, I would put a little more stock into the rumors that are out there regarding Martin Necas, who just won IIHF World Championship gold in his native Czechia.
Necas, 25, is a restricted free agent July 1 and I absolutely believe he would welcome a change of scenery out of Carolina. I think this has been the case for a while now, in fact.
Necas’ father kind of blew the lid off it recently with comments to Czech media Denik Sport complaining about his son’s usage with the Hurricanes and essentially saying his son wants a trade.
Now, I will also say that over the years I’ve learned father doesn’t always necessarily speak for son, but in this case, my sense is it’s probably pretty closely aligned.
“We’ll see what’s going to happen,” Necas told Aaron Vickers of NHL.com after winning world championship gold Sunday. “I don’t really care right now. What’s going to happen is going to happen. My agent is going to deal with that. We’re going to figure it out. Now I’m going to celebrate this medal and I’m going to enjoy it for a while.’’
As an RFA, however, there’s only so much he can do, of course. But there seems to be very little chance he’s signing a long-term deal with the Canes. The real question now is how does Carolina proceed?
What we know is the Hurricanes did have Necas included in their February trade discussions with the Vancouver Canucks regarding Elias Pettersson before the Canucks ended up convincing Pettersson to sign a long-term extension. And I’ve reported before that Necas was part of the package that Carolina offered Calgary in the summer of 2022 for Matthew Tkachuk.
So, his name has been in trade talks in a meaningful way before. My understanding at the moment is that the situation sits like this: The Canes know Necas is a star, a player capable of going next level from what he’s produced so far in the NHL, and Carolina has a plan to expand his role next season. However, sources also confirm the Canes have had a number of calls from teams in the past week inquiring, given the father’s comments and, well, we know Carolina is the kind of organization that isn’t afraid to consider anything.
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But there’s very little chance the Hurricanes, in win-now mode, are trading Necas for a futures package. If they get a star-caliber asset in an offer, I do believe Carolina would give it some serious thought. But if not, I think the Canes are ready to hang on to him — even if that might be a rocky course, considering it appears the player wants a change of scenery.
There are a lot of teams that could make sense for Necas. Nashville and Boston jump off the page right away as far as their need to upgrade offensively. And we already know the Canucks contemplated him in February. But it’s easy to make the case for several clubs, and again, as noted above, many teams have inquired in the past week.
The other layer is that Necas needs a new deal. How much does that cost? Most contenders have very little cap room, so that’s another part of it.
The real caveat though, again, is that Carolina would want a star-caliber player back in any package. That’s where the fit gets trickier. Having said that, all things being equal, my money’s on Necas likely moving this summer.
Stay tuned, as they say …
(Top photo of Martin Necas: Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images)
