The Atlantic Division is going to look a little different next season following a massive trade between the Florida Panthers and Ottawa Senators.
In the deal, Ottawa sent their now-former captain Brady Tkachuk to the Florida Panthers in exchange for three first-round picks and a second-round pick.
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Nearly a month has passed since news of the trade came down, with teams across the league now mostly settled into their rosters for next season following the NHL Draft and start of free agency.
We’ve heard plenty from the Tkachuk brothers in the time since, as Brady was formally introduced in South Florida a few days after the trade, and he and Matthew have said plenty on their Wingmen podcast about becoming NHL teammates.
On Monday, one of Brady’s former teammates went on TSN1200 in Ottawa and was asked about the trade.
Center Shane Pinto, who has played all six of his NHL seasons with Tkachuk and the Senators, said he was caught off-guard by the trade when the news broke on Father’s Day.
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“It took everyone by surprise,” Pinto said during the interview. “He’s been such a big part of this organization, obviously the face of it, and he’s obviously one of my good buds too, so to see him go, it sucks. I think he just wanted to go down a different path, and I totally understand that. We have a bunch of guys here that have been here for a while, I think we’re all growing together. We just wish him all the best and I know we’ll see him down the road. He’s going to be in our division, so I’m sure we’re going to see him a lot.”
Ultimately, it became clear that Tkachuk wanted to continue his career outside of Ottawa, and playing in Florida with his brother was the ideal landing spot.
Pinto showed an understanding for Tkachuk’s position, which makes sense as players don’t often criticize one another on how they handle their respective careers.
“At the end of the day, you just want guys who want to try to win for the Ottawa Senators, and that’s that,” Pinto said. “You want everyone on the same page and everyone going for the same goal, and that’s all you want. On a personal level, he’s still going to by my bud. There’s always going to be a business side of hockey, so you just leave that out of it.”
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As Pinto mentioned, he’s going to see plenty of his former captain when hockey season rolls around.
In addition to the likely extensive media coverage of the Tkachuk brothers, Florida and Ottawa will also face off four times during the season, as is customary for divisional opponents.
Considering the amount of fireworks we’ve seen in matchups between the Cats and Sens in recent years, Tkachuk switching sides should only spice things up even more.
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Nov 28, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Ottawa Senators center Shane Pinto (12) is congratulated by teammates after scoring against the St. Louis Blues during the second period at Enterprise Center. (Jeff Curry-Imagn Images)
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