OTTAWA — Brady Tkachuk feels he should still be playing. And it hasn’t allowed him to wrap his brain around much else.
It’s been a few days since the Senators’ captain and his teammates skated off the ice at the Canadian Tire Centre for the last time this season, losing Game 6 of their first-round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs. If they won that game at home, Game 7 would’ve been Saturday night in Toronto.
“Still not over it, to be honest, yet. Still wish we were playing Game 7 tonight,” Tkachuk said Saturday morning in the CTC’s media room.
It was a sour end to a transformative year for the 25-year-old. His play at the 4 Nations Face-Off helped the Americans reach the championship while furthering his and the hockey world’s desire to play postseason hockey, while showcasing his skill as a power forward.
But his play style also comes with a price. Tkachuk confirmed to the media that he suffered a hip injury during the exhibition tournament in February and also struggled with an upper-body injury suffered against the Pittsburgh Penguins on March 30th. Tkachuk was hit high after colliding with Penguins defenceman Ryan Graves near the end of the regular season.
Tkachuk says recovering from that injury allowed him to heal his hip injury before the playoffs, yet declined to reveal specifics of the injury.
Ryan Graves was called for interference at the end of the second period for this play on Brady Tkachuk.
Tkachuk did not leave the game. pic.twitter.com/Wcsc21uUxc
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) March 30, 2025
“I definitely don’t want to diagnose and put it out there. Let’s just say it’s something you can’t really play through,” Tkachuk said.
Tkachuk will spend his offseason getting back to 100 percent for next season and doing everything he can to play close to a full slate of games next year. He won’t join Team USA at the World Championship in Sweden and Denmark this spring. It also means he won’t join brother Matthew as he continues his quest for a Stanley Cup, as he’s done with his family in previous seasons. Matthew and his team, the Panthers, start their second-round series against Toronto on Monday. But there’s another reason why he’ll be following “from afar.”
“I guess a little bit to that is the disappointment that we’re still not playing where we played well enough to get to where we’re at,” Tkachuk said. “And the disappointment of not continuing, I guess, is a part of it.”
It’s a clear sign that the expectations for Tkachuk, and ultimately his team, have shifted thanks to this season’s playoff berth. Tkachuk couldn’t answer when asked what he felt his team needed to take the next step to become veritable playoff contenders. But he openly acknowledged the change in his team’s expectations after making the playoffs this year.
“I know we’re going to get better internally, and we’re just going to get better overall,” Tkachuk said. “When that time comes next year, we’re not just looking at just (being) happy to be in the playoffs. We want more. So that’s what I’ve taken from this time, as much reflection as I’ve had in the (last) 48 hours), that we want more.”
What’s next for Claude Giroux, other pending UFAs and RFAs?
One other big takeaway from Saturday’s media availabilities? The Sens’ players want Claude Giroux back in the fold.
Tkachuk spoke about how much Giroux meant to him. They’ve only played three seasons together, but it feels like he’s known him his entire life. Dylan Cozens has only been in Ottawa for two months, but he’s learned faceoff tips from Giroux and chirps back and forth with the veteran in the locker room. Shane Pinto thinks of the elder Giroux as a “big brother,” while Tim Stützle considers his friendship with him among the closest on the team.
“I can speak for probably everyone: He’s got a bond to every single guy on the team,” Stützle said. “I think he’s still a really special player. I think he makes our team better. It always sucks to see when somebody’s contract is up and you don’t know what’s going to happen. I know how hard of a worker he is. I know how competitive he is. I know he’s going to come back really strong to show everyone how hard he worked in the offseason.
“We are really lucky to have him, and I’ve been really lucky to have him for all those years now we’ve played together. We went through a lot of ups and downs, and I could always lean on him. He was always there for me, for Brady too, through hard times. That’s what it’s all about. So yeah, I love him, and hopefully we can have him back.”
It also seems like Giroux isn’t planning on retiring anytime soon. The 37-year-old forward scored 15 goals and 50 points in 81 games this season before scoring a goal and five points in six playoff games for Ottawa. Giroux is a pending unrestricted free agent in the final year of a three-year, $19.5 million contract.
“I don’t know how many (years) left, but I feel like I have a lot left in the tank,” Giroux said. “I’m loving hockey right now. I want to play, and I feel like I could be an impact player. It’s just going to be a big summer for me and for all my teammates, too. We have a little taste of it, of the playoffs, how it feels and how fun it is. When you have that little taste, you want to get back into it.”
Giroux is among a handful of pending unrestricted free agents for the Senators this summer, including Adam Gaudette, who scored a career-high 19 goals and 26 points in 81 games this season for the Senators. When asked about discussions regarding his future, Gaudette said the Senators will have some internal discussions “over the next few weeks.”
“Hopefully, (they) come back and get something that works for everyone,” Gaudette said.
Gaudette re-joined the Sens for his second stint with the team as a free agent last summer and settled into his role as a fourth-line centre while also contributing a goal and three points in the playoffs, in addition to being a penalty killer.
“I think I elevated my game in the playoffs and throughout the year, and found another level that I could get to. I’m just going to build off that now,” Gaudette said.
Sens defenceman Travis Hamonic acknowledged the uncertainty of his future while expressing how happy he and his family have been settling into the community of Kanata.
Hamonic didn’t play in the playoffs for Ottawa this spring. The 34-year-old defenceman was the last man off the ice at pregame warmup ahead of Game 6 last Thursday. But he suited up in his 900th career NHL game in the Sens’ regular-season finale.
I snapped this photo before Game 6 of Sens-Leafs: Travis Hamonic stayed out so long after morning skate that the Zamboni eventually just came on while he was still taking it all in.
If this is the end of Hamonic’s NHL career, they literally dragged him off the ice to finish it. https://t.co/MrckITO3O2 pic.twitter.com/kFTjQqq44m
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) May 3, 2025
The competitive fire still burns in Hamonic to play, but he’s also considered his family life a lot while not looking too far ahead in the future. Hamonic also met with general manager Steve Staios on Saturday morning, but no discussions have been had about another contract.
“I love being a Sen. I love Ottawa,” Hamonic said. “I think I’ve been very clear about that since the three and a half years that I’ve been here. I think the community is amazing. I think the group of guys, some of the (most fun) times I have playing hockey, I think has been here.”
Senators backup goaltender Anton Forsberg, defenceman Dennis Gilbert, and forwards Matthew Highmore, Nick Cousins and Hayden Hodgson round out the pending UFAs this summer. Ottawa also has three restricted free agents, including the pairing of Tyler Kleven and Nikolas Matinpalo, who drew rave reviews in their time together during the season and playoffs, and forward Fabian Zetterlund.
Pinto is also eligible for an extension this summer as he enters the second and final year of a $7.5 million deal signed last summer.
“If they want me around here for a long time, I’d obviously be open to it,” Pinto said. “Everything’s so fresh, (season) just ended. I think as the weeks go on, you think about more and more things. I love being here, I love the boys. We’re building something special. I wouldn’t be opposed to staying here for a long time.”
Staios and coach Travis Green will be available Monday to look back at their season and perhaps offer clarity on pending free agents.
Nick Jensen’s health was under the microscope for much of the second half of the season. (John E. Sokolowski / Imagn Images)
Nick Jensen’s injury uncertainty
Nick Jensen arrived as an offseason acquisition last summer via trade in exchange for Jakob Chychrun. While he didn’t possess the same offensive attributes as his predecessor, he began the season as a reliable defensive partner for Thomas Chabot. But his health has been under the microscope for much of the second half of the season, leading him to miss morning skates and some regular-season games while his quality of play noticeably dipped.
“I’ve been grinding a little bit to get through a lot of these games,” Jensen said. “But I credit our health staff, they’ve been helping me get through this. I’ve been been able to get all the way through playoffs with it, obviously. And I could have continued to play with it. I know it’s pretty fresh. So, we’re taking time to assess what the future is like, and how we can move forward and make sure I’m in the best shape I can be for next year.”
Jensen was unable to provide much more detail on what’s been ailing him these last few months, and couldn’t clarify if he needed surgery. But he’s “hopeful” that he’ll be healthy come training camp in the fall.
“I don’t think I’m disclosing exactly what is going on until we figure out exactly what our progression going forward should be like,” Jensens said. ” I just want to make sure with the doctors and everything that we work all that stuff up with them first before anything gets talked about.”
Ullmark snubbed from World Championship?
It doesn’t appear that the Senators will be represented at this spring’s World Championship in Sweden and Denmark. Stützle said he’d “love” to play for Germany, but he’ll take some time to recuperate before deciding. Tkachuk and defenceman Jake Sanderson won’t represent Team USA. Zetterlund was unsure if he’d represent Sweden as well. His teammate, Linus Ullmark, also won’t be there. But not by choice.
Ullmark told the media that his agent notified him Friday that Sweden won’t need his services this spring. Instead, Sweden will rely on a trio of Samuel Ersson, Arvid Soderblom and Arvid Holm. The Sens goalie admitted he was “let down” by Sweden’s decision not to add him to their team. Ullmark ended his regular season with a 25-14-3 record with a 2.72 goals-against average and a .909 save percentage before recording two wins in six appearances for Ottawa in the playoffs with an .880 save percentage and a 2.84 goals-against average.
“I really wish that I had the opportunity to do that and put the national team jersey on now, especially when we didn’t make it (to) the second round.”
(Top photo of Claude Giroux and Brady Tkachuk: Len Redkoles / NHLI via Getty Images)