Player Discussion Brady Tkachuk (LW) - Part XI

[Agent Zuuuub]

Brady's scoring pace going down but he's actually started playing defence and hustling on backchecks so he's not getting criticism and coincidentally the team is winning because everyone is playing a team game now.

Weird how that works.

 

[umma gumma]

Brady's scoring pace going down but he's actually started playing defence and hustling on backchecks so he's not getting criticism and coincidentally the team is winning because everyone is playing a team game now.

Weird how that works.

What is even stranger is how solid goal tending is a contributor as well. Never expected that. Not at all.

 

[Agent Zuuuub]

What is even stranger is how solid goal tending is a contributor as well. Never expected that. Not at all.

Hmm maybe like a team playing a cohesive team game and defence helps goalies.

Could they all be related?

 

[umma gumma]

Hmm maybe like a team playing a cohesive team game and defence helps goalies.

Could they all be related?

You mean it helps when goalies make saves they should be making? Yes I agree.

 

[Agent Zuuuub]

You mean it helps when goalies make saves they should be making? Yes I agree.

And the captain of the team backchecking and playing basic defence.

 

[umma gumma]

And the captain of the team backchecking and playing basic defence.

And the goalie making the saves when the captain is on the bench for 40 minutes of the game.

 

[Knave]

I thought he didn't have a great night defensively. But neither did a lot of players like Stutzle or Pinto.

In terms of offense he was creating for others tonight despite not getting on the score sheet.

 

[PlayersLtd]

I would certainly hope a player who played more games and took 500 more shots in his first 6 seasons would have more goals.

10 more goals on 557 more shots for some context.

And we don't have to imagine how Matthew Tkachuk would have done on his next 500 shots. He scored 40 goals (not 10 goals) on 324 shots which is better than Brady Tkachuk's career year and a better 82 game pace than what Brady Tkachuk is doing right now.

What would other Ottawa players have done if those 557 shots were distributed among Stutzle, Batherson, Norris, Giroux, DeBrincat and others? I think it's very fair to question what this team would look like if Brady Tkachuk took fewer shots and was closer to players like Matthew Tkachuk and Jamie Benn with his shot selection where he still takes a large amount but he's not Top 5 for the time period of his career with elite superstars such as MacKinnon, Pastrnak and Matthews.

Everyone seems to be taking the default approach of "oh the team would be worse". I'm not convinced.

So you're holding Brady's shooting frequency against him? What a weird argument. Brady's shooting is a characteristic of his style of play. He scores the goals he does because he shoots a lot, that's a good thing. I'll just leave it at that and not even unpack the positive reasons as to why he is able to get so many shots on net.

Did you hold high shooting frequency against Hossa? Because he also racked up shots while having somewhat pedestrian goal totals for a star.

Anyway, in a winner take all game, all things being equal, give me the guy with the high shot totals over the guy with the high shooting percentage, all day long.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

Brady's defensive game is a work in progress. His defensive commitment has been better lately though not without a couple of bumps.

Moving slooooowly in the right direction. If he embraces it like Stu, Norris and Bath have, the pace of improvement will pick up

His play from the top of the circles in in the ozone is much better than in any other zone.

 

[Golden_Jet]

I thought he didn't have a great night defensively. But neither did a lot of players like Stutzle or Pinto.

In terms of offense he was creating for others tonight despite not getting on the score sheet.

Pinto didn’t have a great game defensively?
Everyone on his line was +3, in a 3-0
game.

 

[HSF]

Brady's scoring pace going down but he's actually started playing defence and hustling on backchecks so he's not getting criticism and coincidentally the team is winning because everyone is playing a team game now.

Weird how that works.

Others guys are scoring so Brady and Stuztle don't feel like they need to carry the load offensively

 

[NyQuil]

I thought he didn't have a great night defensively. But neither did a lot of players like Stutzle or Pinto.

In terms of offense he was creating for others tonight despite not getting on the score sheet.

There was one pretty tremendous backcheck that I can remember off the top of my head.

 

[Ice-Tray]

So you're holding Brady's shooting frequency against him? What a weird argument. Brady's shooting is a characteristic of his style of play. He scores the goals he does because he shoots a lot, that's a good thing. I'll just leave it at that and not even unpack the positive reasons as to why he is able to get so many shots on net.

Did you hold high shooting frequency against Hossa? Because he also racked up shots while having somewhat pedestrian goal totals for a star.

Anyway, in a winner take all game, all things being equal, give me the guy with the high shot totals over the guy with the high shooting percentage, all day long.

At the same time folks are calling for Stu to shoot more!

Comical.

Brady's defensive game is a work in progress. His defensive commitment has been better lately though not without a couple of bumps.

Moving slooooowly in the right direction. If he embraces it like Stu, Norris and Bath have, the pace of improvement will pick up

His play from the top of the circles in in the ozone is much better than in any other zone.

Agreed, it’s also better than most other players in the league, which is part of what makes him special.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

Tkachuk is 2nd in the league in PP goals with 8; Batherson has 7; Norris 4, Stutzle 1; Timmy is tied for 2nd in the league in PP assists

 

[PlayersLtd]

I think most people would build around him, but unless he is committed to staying here long term it is irrelevant.

He only has 3 years left, and his trade value likely drops by about 80 percent after July 1st if he asks out. People will say "yeah but we don't have to trade him if he asks out", but it never works that way in real life. It becomes too big of a distraction.

I would absolutely not trust a Tkachuk who tells me "Yes Mr. Staios, I'm so happy here, missing the playoffs is fun, no, my dad didn't tell me to string you along until my NMC kicks in." Which is not me saying the Tkachuks are bad people, but Staios would have to be an idiot not to see that they know how to play the game. Once July 1st hits, the balance of power shifts completely to Brady. To the point where giving the Senators a 3 team list is a major consolation. If you're Brady and you want out, getting to July 1st is important because it means you don't have to worry about getting traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets, and you can give the Senators a 3 team list consisting of Vegas, Golden, and Knights.

They are in a really tough spot because trading him as a precaution against the NMC is a crappy situation, but if they hold onto him and in January of 2026 he asks them to move him at the deadline, they aren't getting anywhere close to what they could have gotten for him if they decided to move him in January of 2025.

This stuff happens with pretty much every star, look at Marner right now. As a GM you don't worry about the NMC unless things are particularly sour in which case your point stands. Otherwise you just look at it as a necessary risk and you go about your business with optimism and not fear of the worst case scenario, and you certainly don't create a narrative in your head about not trusting his dad...

If this team keeps trending in the right direction it is a complete non-issue and we are operating with a win now mentality (ie- within Brady's window), you cross the negative bridge when you get there, if you get there. It's the nature of the business and executives/owners with winning attitudes take risks and suffer consequences.

Also, if Brady goes and asks for a trade it is safe to say that his three team list would be expanded on his end.