But after a playoff breakthrough, Tkachuk is now hungry for more in Canada’s capital.
“The last couple of years, it was kind of stagnant,” he told ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski in an interview published on Monday. “We had high expectations and we didn’t quite accomplish what we needed to. And with that came doubt. But I think it showed with the steps that we took last year that we have a great hockey team. I think that we’re kind of just getting started with what we want to accomplish.
“Playoffs are great to get to, but that’s not our end goal. The sky’s the limit for our group.”
Tkachuk and the Senators broke an eight-season streak of missed playoffs this past spring before dropping a first-round series to the Toronto Maple Leafs in six games.
The Ottawa captain, who battled injury en route to seven points (four goals, three assists) in that series, said a side benefit of the team’s taste of success was that it quieted all those trade murmurs.
“When things aren’t going well, people are always assuming or trying to think in my shoes. But I was kind of never really in that thought process. It was all about sticking it out. It’s been a long time coming, for not just our team but the city, to get into the playoffs. And I think it was really important to me to end that drought,” he said.
Still, as Tkachuk sees a pair of Stanley Cup rings on brother Matthew’s fingers, he can’t help but wonder about more.
“To finally get to the playoffs was an amazing feeling. But now that we got there, I think everybody wants a little bit more and wants to accomplish all of our childhood dreams,” he said.
Matthew Tkachuk’s Florida Panthers, of course, have won the last two championships. And the feisty winger is also set to be on the cover of the video game NHL 26, with the deluxe feature including Brady and father Keith Tkachuk, too.
But there is one accomplishment Matthew is still hungry for.
“It’s been a long time coming since USA Hockey’s been at the top of the mountain,” he said. “Canada’s owned the Olympics or World Cups or even the world championships, although we got that back a little bit this year. They’ve been the leader in all of that and the team that we’ve all been trying to knock off.”
The Tkachuks were front and centre at the U.S.-Canada rivalry during the 4 Nations Face-Off, with both fighting in the first minute of the round-robin game.
Canada went on to win that February tournament in Boston thanks to Connor McDavid’s OT winner, but the Tkachuks will have their shot at revenge during the 2026 Olympics in Italy.
“We’ve had some incredible players and national teams that we’ve looked up to our whole lives but that haven’t gotten the job done. So, not only would winning (gold) accomplish dreams for us, but hopefully it would bring a lot of satisfaction for those guys that paved the way for us,” he said.