Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
In Amazon Prime Video’s new Faceoff: Inside the NHL docuseries, Matthew Tkachuk takes a small jab against his younger brother, Brady Tkachuk.
The two brothers are hanging out at Matthew Tkachuk’s house in South Florida with their father, Keith, when Matthew challenges Brady Tkachuk to a game of mini-putt.
“I wanna get you ready for the summer here,” Matthew tells Brady, whose Senators had missed the playoffs for a seventh straight season.
In a moment that felt symbolic of their NHL accomplishments thus far, Matthew Tkachuk bested Brady Tkachuk in the game.
But don’t think for a second that Matthew’s snide comment slid right off Brady – he wants to win just as badly as his older brother, and the pressure is there.
As the third episode of the docuseries showed, Matthew and Brady grew up in an NHL environment as their father starred for the St. Louis Blues. The dream of playing in the NHL and the competitive fire that came with it was instilled in both of them as youngsters.
Today, they both score lots of goals, throw lots of hits, drop the gloves and lead their teams by example.
“If you had a build-a-player option, that’s exactly who you’d want,” player-turned-analyst Paul Bissonnette said over a highlight reel of the brothers.
But so far, it’s been Matthew Tkachuk who’s climbed to the pinnacle of the sporting world with the Florida Panthers, while Brady Tkachuk is still looking for his first taste of playoff hockey with the Ottawa Senators. Matthew hoisted the Stanley Cup in June, with Brady watching from the sidelines.
When the Senators selected him fourth overall in 2018, there was plenty of chatter that the younger Tkachuk had even more potential than his older brother, who was selected sixth overall by the Calgary Flames in 2016. He possessed all the tenacity and grit of Matthew Tkachuk but with a perceived edge in playmaking and shooting ability, along with his larger 6-foot-4 frame. He had all the tools to dominate in ways his brother might not.
That hasn’t become the case so far. Matthew Tkachuk emerged as a perennial Hart Trophy candidate since being dealt to the Florida Panthers in 2022, finishing third in MVP voting in his first season. He also put his team on his back to make a Cinderella run to the Cup final. After an agonizing defeat, he helped take them right back to the final last year to finish the job, cementing himself as one of the most reliable superstars in the NHL.
Brady Tkachuk quickly became one of the Senators’ best players after debuting in 2018 and was named captain in 2021, but under his leadership, his team’s rebuild has seemingly stagnated. A promising 86-point finish for the Senators in 2022-23 was followed by an eight-point regression in 2023-24, far outside the playoff picture. It’s hard to fault Brady Tkachuk for his team’s failures, as he’s still been arguably their most consistent player on a nightly basis, but he’ll need to continue to be part of the solution.
Brady Tkachuk notched a career-high 83 points in 2022-23, his first point-per-game NHL campaign. Instead of ascending to another tier last year, his production fell to 74 points in 81 games. Injuries to teammates played a role in linemate quality, but it was a mild disappointment amid the greater letdown of yet another lost season for the Senators.
But there’s reason to believe the Senators captain is still only scratching the surface of his NHL potential.
By almost any metric you choose, Tkachuk is such a high-volume player that it feels inevitable for him to reach another level. Among players who played at least 500 minutes last season, Tkachuk was second in the NHL in shots on goal per 60 minutes, only trailing David Pastrnak, according to naturalstattrick.com. He was also a Corsi and Fenwick darling, finishing in the top 10 in both per-60 categories.
Especially at 5-on-5, Tkachuk’s on-ice impacts are impressive. Among players who played at least 500 minutes, he had the fourth-best expected goals mark last year, also per naturalstattrick.com. That shows huge potential for increased production if he can muster a little more polish and finishing ability. Not only that, but Tkachuk has MVP-caliber potential if his impacts become more tangible.
Beyond the numbers, Tkachuk has seen the sacrifice it takes to win. The Faceoff docuseries details Matthew Tkachuk breaking his sternum in Game 3 of the 2023 Stanley Cup final, requiring Brady Tkachuk to lift his brother out of bed the morning of Game 4 so he could play.
“Right then and there, I’m like, ‘I can’t believe he’s about to play,’ ” Brady Tkachuk said.
While the Panthers lost that series in five games, it sent an important message about the type of competitor Matthew Tkachuk is.
Nobody is questioning Brady Tkachuk’s commitment, but his expected outputs have long been greater than reality, as have the expectations for the Ottawa Senators. Is Matthew Tkachuk’s recent team success and rise to superstardom the push Brady Tkachuk needs to lead his team to the playoffs?
With this family, there’s no reason to think it’s impossible.
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