Brady Tkachuk: 'Burning desire' to win Cup amid Matthew's celebrations
Brady Tkachuk spent a part of his offseason in the Stanley Cup's vicinity after his brother Matthew's Florida Panthers won it all this past spring, but no, the Ottawa Senators captain didn't touch the coveted trophy.
"I didn't even want to go near it," he said during an appearance on the "Locked On Senators" podcast. "Matthew had it for 36 hours, it was always around. Matthew had a party of 350 people; 349 people touched it but me. ... Pretty cool to see. I think everybody drank out of it, held it with Matthew. Just seeing those images, I'm like, 'Alright.' I just kept telling everybody, 'My party's gonna be way better,' just to get him going."
Tkachuk added: "As a brother, I couldn't be happier. It's a dream come true that he accomplished, but for me, it's something that's going to be a burning desire until I do it, and I know it's going to happen."
The 24-year-old has never appeared in a postseason game as Ottawa last made the playoffs in 2016-17, two years before his debut campaign.
The Senators finished 13 points outside of the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference this past season and were largely done in by off-ice drama, abysmal goaltending, and leaky defense. The performance was a step back from their underwhelming 2022-23 campaign when they missed the postseason by six points.
In response, general manager Steve Staios began his offseason by acquiring 2023 Vezina Trophy winner Linus Ullmark from the Boston Bruins in a bid to stabilize the crease. The executive also added a pair of Stanley Cup champions in Michael Amadio and David Perron on July 1.
Tkachuk said he "almost expected" changes to be made given the Senators' recent struggles, adding that he's pleased with what's been done thus far.
"I think we're a better team going into the season than we finished up," he said. "I think everybody's fired up to get back to Ottawa and get going and get back in front of everybody."
Tkachuk continued: "What I'm most excited about is getting to know these new guys who have been around and have so much experience that I can talk to, lean on, and kinda just help me out every day. I still have a lot of areas where I can grow, and I can continue to get better."
The new-look Senators open their 2024-25 season against the Panthers on Oct. 10.
"You can't draw it up any better than that," Tkachuk said.