Brady Tkachuk is tired of trade talks.
With his name constantly in the rumor mill, the 26-year-old Senators star called the chatter a “distraction” after his team was swept in the first round by the Hurricanes.
“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 Wednesday.
Questions about Tkachuk’s future in Ottawa, where he has played since being taken fourth overall by the franchise in 2018, have ratcheted up with the Senators failing to get over the hump during the postseason.
“I don’t think anybody is more frustrated with how everything went than me,” Tkachuk said. “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 said he deleted X to get away from the speculation, but the rumors about his future still find him through other platforms.
“I don’t get why it’s a consistent thing. It’s happened so many times personally, and it’s frustrating to have to answer to something that’s never been spoken out of my mouth or the team’s mouth,” Tkachuk said.
Earlier this week, the Senators were eliminated in the first round for the second straight season.
They had missed the playoffs in the previous six seasons with Tkachuk in tow.
Tkachuk added that he plans to meet with president of hockey operations Steve Staios after the season to discuss what the Senators need to do to improve, as well as what he can do better himself.
Tkachuk, a three-time All-Star, played well during the regular season, putting up 59 points in 60 games, but he was all but invisible during the drubbing at the hands of Carolina.
He didn’t score a point during the series and was minus-4 when on the ice.
Tkachuk currently has two years left on a seven-year, $57.5 million contract he signed in 2021.
