FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Brady Tkachuk made an immediate impression on the Florida Panthers.
It was Game 1 of the preseason, his first game in Panthers colors. He already had a goal and an assist, then took exception when someone decided to send Aleksander Barkov into the boards with a hit that the Panthers deemed excessive. So, he got into a fight to protect his captain, then headed to the penalty box with a satisfied look upon his face.
When he got there, Matthew Tkachuk nodded and smiled. Big bro approved, as did everyone else on the Florida bench.
“Brady fits right into the need that we had,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said.
Oh, brother. Everything changed for Florida when Matthew Tkachuk arrived in 2022. The move allowed the team to graduate from simply being a good regular-season club to one tough enough to reach three consecutive Stanley Cup finals and win two in a row. And now, his brother Brady — bigger, stronger and younger than Matthew — is with the Panthers as well, looking to win and win big, something that didn't happen in the first chapter of his career when he played for the Ottawa Senators.
It always seemed inevitable that they would team up. The family dream is now reality, and Florida — which opens its season Tuesday at Stanley Cup champion Carolina — can't wait to see how it is all going to work.
“It's a dream come true to play with players like that,” Barkov said.
How will one brother make the other one better, and more importantly, how will having two Tkachuks make the Panthers better? Florida hockey operations president and general manager Bill Zito thinks he knows.
“Short answer is love," Zito said. “Anytime you can put love in your dressing room, sincere brotherly love, isn’t that really what a team is? And when those guys are together, you see it. ... They're both wonderful players and competitors. And I think Brady is going bring a lot of things individually to our team, in addition to the things that come as being the brother of another teammate.”
Brady Tkachuk was there when the Panthers won the Stanley Cup in 2024 and 2025, sitting in the stands with his family at Amerant Bank Arena in Florida, cheering on his brother, celebrating that Matthew got to live out their dream by winning a title.
In those moments, his mind wandered. He insists that he was fully devoted to Ottawa and loved being the captain of the Senators. But the team never won a playoff series in his time there, meaning it wasn't exactly a Cup contender.
The Panthers are — and probably became even more of a contender now that he's arrived.
“It's been amazing,” Brady Tkachuk said. “These guys have all welcomed me in with open arms.”
If the brothers aren’t playing hockey, they’re probably talking hockey. The show is called the Wingmen Podcast. The format is simple: the brothers are co-hosts sitting down with a guest or two, talking hockey or whatever else comes to their minds.
Officially, it’s a once-a-week deal, lasting about an hour.
Unofficially, it might seem like an all-day, everyday phenomenon for the Panthers.
“They’re like a constant show,” Panthers defensemen Aaron Ekblad said, “It’s like we’ve got our own podcast in the room as well. They’re the best.”
Entertaining as they may be behind microphones, the Tkachuks are hoping the real show comes when they’re on the ice together in the NHL for the first time. They’ve been teammates with Team USA — Olympic gold medalists from the Milan Cortina Games earlier this year — and this summer the Panthers made the move to put them in the same dressing room full-time.
“I’ve grown to love Matthew and everything he’s done for this franchise is incredible,” Ekblad said. "He’s a family man. He’s a philanthropist and he does all of the little things right. And I know that Brady falls in his footsteps closely. So, I'm really excited to get to play with him.”
There is always going to be a sibling rivalry, of course. There are still times the Tkachuk brothers will get on each other's nerves — and, the Panthers hope, the nerves of opponents. And Brady, forever and ever, will be Matthew's little brother, which means he'll be subject to jokes about his temper, his driving and more.
"Let's face it. How often do people get to play in the NHL with their brother?" Matthew Tkachuk asked. "That in itself is making this already — we haven’t even played a game yet — just the best experience ever.”
The Panthers can only hope that the experience keeps getting better.
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