Brady Tkachuk calls out 'frustrating' trade rumors with questions on Senators' future: 'It's becoming a distraction'

"I feel like I've answered this hundreds of times. ... Quite honestly, it's just getting frustrating. It's becoming a distraction. I have been fully committed to this team, to this city. It's just becoming frustrating to deal with," Tkachuk said of the trade rumors surrounding him.

Per ESPN, Tkachuk also said that he didn't "get why [the trade speculation is] a consistent thing," and "it's frustrating to have to answer to something that's never been spoken out of my mouth or the team's mouth."

After posting 59 points over 60 games in the regular season, Tkachuk was held without a point in the four-game series against Carolina. He said that he plans to have a postseason meeting with Senators general manager Steve Staios about how he and the team can improve for 2026-27.

"I don't think anybody is more frustrated with how everything went than me," Tkachuk said, per ESPN. "At the end of the day, I didn't play good enough. I tried everything I could to get my game going, but nothing was going in. Nothing was going my way."

Tkachuk also directly spoke to Senators fans to end his presser.

"I just want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for the support that you guys had for our team, myself, my family, all year. I really wish we could be playing for you guys still," Tkachuk said, per ESPN. "You guys brought so much energy, so much joy to our team that it makes it sting [more]."

MORE: How Brady Tkachuk, Jordan Staal opened 2026 NHL playoffs with a brawl

Will Senators trade Brady Tkachuk?

With Tkachuk now coming off his eighth season, owning just two playoff appearances with the Senators and two brief playoff exits, trade speculation has only increased surrounding him over time. That speculation is nothing new — he and the team have addressed trade rumors before. After the 2024-25 season ended with his first playoff berth, Tkachuk said he had no interest in leaving Ottawa.

“Obviously it’s a lie,” Tkachuk said in May 2025, per NHL.com. “All those articles, stories… It’s just not true. But I think it’s on me if I let that bother me or take me off what I’m trying to do. Everyone knows that I’ll do whatever it takes to win. Seeing this fan base, this excitement, see how much they rallied around us, everybody’s waiting for it. Everybody wants to accomplish and win the Stanley Cup."

When he was absent from the Senators' recent 2025-26 exit interviews on Monday, trade speculation only picked up more. But there was clear reasoning for that absence: Tkachuk was away with his family matters following the birth of his second child, a daughter named Lyla.

Despite the fan and media speculation, the Senators have shown no signs of having interest in a Tkachuk deal. Staios also recently dismissed any trade speculation.

"It’s nonsense is what it is,” Staios said, per NHL.com. “I don’t read it. I don’t bother with it. We know what we have internally. We have great communication with our players, so we really don’t focus on it.

"I mean, this comes up very often. There's nothing that we have talked about or thought about where that conversation should happen."

Despite the lack of playoff success, Tkachuk and the Senators remain committed to one another — and until that changes, a trade appears unlikely.