Now there’s a title I’ve been waiting to write for what feels like an eternity. In all honesty, I wrote this post weeks ago. And since then, the cursor has been hovering over the publish button.
Today, on the opening night of the regular season, they finally got it done.
Despite his restricted free agent status, the negotiations with Tkachuk have been somewhat complex. Of course that’s not unique to Brady. More of a league-wide trend, really. Young stars are cashing in off their entry-level deals and teams have to be careful. You want to lock up your key pieces but you also want to be careful not to overpay.
To their credit, both Pierre Dorion and the agents representing Brady Tkachuk kept this thing under wraps. Sure there were twist and turns and lane changes over the last few weeks but through it all, both sides kept quiet. They didn’t bother with correcting the incorrect. They avoided the drama. And they just quietly went about their business. The result is a contract that works well for both sides.
The contract has an average value of $8.214 million annually and includes the following breakdown: $4.0M in 2021-22, $6.5M in 2022-23, $10.5M in 2023-24, $10.5M in 2024-25, $10.5M in 2025-26, $8.5 in 2026-27 and $7.0M in 2027-28. No signing bonuses in the deal.
Through three seasons with the Senators, Tkachuk has rapidly ascended the list of fan favourites. And not just on this roster. He’s right up there with the all-time Sens greats, even with only a few seasons under his belt. Tkachuk is a throwback of sorts- a player that can influence the game in countless ways. A hit, a fight, a goal- whatever it takes, really. The sort of player that leads naturally. As the Head Coach has put it, he “drags others into the fight.”
Fact is, players like Tkachuk don’t come along often these days and when they do, they change the direction of a franchise.
Tkachuk has appeared in 198 games over three season, racking up 60 goals and 125 points along the way.
Those number don’t exactly jump off the page but as we all know, with Tkachuk it’s about more than just points…it’s an experience, really.
It probably goes without saying but this is another huge moment for a franchise that has been stringing ’em together lately. It’s another clear indication that the Ottawa Senators have turned the proverbial corner and a signal that this rebuild is real. And it is spectacular.
If you’re not all in now, I’m not sure what you’re waiting for.
Getting to this point in the rebuild hasn’t been easy and we all coped differently along the way. Some of us turned on the team. Others turned on those that turned on the team. The real crazy ones started podcasts. But deep down, we all knew it was right. Even if the initial motivations behind the rebuild were shady and the guy calling the shots was even shadier, we all knew a scorched earth rebuild was probably the best course of action. It was the path that would ultimately get this team back to regularly playing in games that matter.
A lot of fans lashed out at the team early on, in part, because we knew it was going to take so damn long to get to this point. Identifying a young core isn’t easy and waiting for them to develop takes time. And we all knew, no matter how well those first two steps went, it didn’t mean much without a commitment from the Owner. And not just with words- with signatures and cash.
That’s exactly what he’s done here. It’s the kind of ‘prove it’ contract that so many have been demanding. It’s a deal the naysayers said was never coming and a contract that the optimistic among us needed. The proof that our patience and loyalty wasn’t completely misplaced. It’s the kind of moment that can finally break down that artificial wall between the optimistic and the skeptical and it’s the moment we can all just be Sens fans again. There’s still lots of work to do but this is another big step in the right direction.
A few years ago, shortly after Thomas Chabot inked his long-term deal, I said the fog was lifting in Ottawa. Well it’s all clear now. What was once a flickering light at the end of long tunnel is now a reality staring us right in the face.
This is it. This is the beginning, the very beginning, of the unparalleled success and the dawn of a new era in Ottawa. And it won’t stop until Gary hands us that damn trophy.
Sens and Leafs later tonight.
Let’s. Fucking. Go.
