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Well, I didn’t realize that good news actually existed in the world of the Ottawa Senators!
Yesterday it was announced that Brady Tkachuk would be signing his entry-level contract with the Senators, which means that he will be ineligible to play for Boston University:
It was just a rumour on Friday night, but tons of people were confirming the reports Saturday morning, including Brady’s own father, Keith:
Cynics were already picturing a scenario where Tkachuk would play out his NCAA career without signing his ELC and re-enter the draft in order to get drafted by a different team, but that was always incredibly unlikely anyway. Nevertheless, it’s nice to see that 1% chance go to 0%, and it’s all but official that he is part of the Senators organization.
So what does this mean for his 2018-19 season then? Surprisingly, all it does is take out one of his four options, which is playing in the NCAA. He could still play in the NHL, AHL, or OHL though, and either one of them are plausible scenarios. If Ottawa thinks he is good enough to make the team, then he could stay in the NHL the entire season. And if he has no deal with the London Knights, then he’d be able to be sent to Belleville as well.
However, Jeff Marek believes that London is a strong possibility:
It makes sense because the Knights have developed dozens of NHLers over the years, plus Brady’s brother Matthew played for them just a few years ago. He’d be able to dominate the league for one season before probably heading to the NHL, although I worry a bit about him playing against younger competition as opposed to NCAA opponents who are older.
I think that even if Tkachuk chooses the OHL route, we could still see him get his 9-game tryout in Ottawa because there is no downside there, as fans will get to catch a glimpse of what he can become. At the end of the day, his number one goal is obviously to make the Senators, and I’d love to see him play right away. The next best scenario would be to play in the AHL because it would be a good step up from NCAA play, and there would be the possibility to call him up throughout the season.
Seeing him go to London wouldn’t be ideal, but it’s not like it would hinder his development as a prospect, it’s just that selfishly I would love to be able to watch him play professional hockey as soon as possible. The good news is that barring any trade, fans will get to see Tkachuk play in a Senators jersey almost assuredly as soon as this season, even if it is only for 9 games or fewer.
We’ll see if he decides to go the Knights or not, but for now I’m just happy that he has signed a contract. I’ll provide more updates as news comes in.
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