Senators owner denies report about Rangers interest in Brady Tkachuk, calls it ‘soft tampering’
Ottawa Senators owner Michael Andlauer raised the question of “soft tampering” on Monday following a report about the New York Rangers’ interest in acquiring star forward Brady Tkachuk.
Andlauer, who’s attending a meeting of the NHL Board of Governors, refuted the report published by the New York Post on Dec. 7, when the Rangers were on the verge of trading captain Jacob Trouba — who was ultimately dealt to the Anaheim Ducks. In the story, Larry Brooks wrote that Tkachuk became the Rangers primary target, and that they were looking to trade for him and immediately bolster their roster.
With his captain’s name swirling in trade rumors, Andlauer was adamant in his denial of Tkachuk being targeted by teams — while making sure to not directly name the Rangers. The star forward has played his entire career with the Senators since coming to the NHL in 2018 and has scored at least 30 goals in each of the past three seasons. He has 13 this season.
“Here’s my frustration: I talk about how I care for these players, and I care for their families — you make a commitment to a team for six, seven years, you set roots in the community, you’re part of this community, there’s a lot of pressure on these young men,” Andlauer said. “Yes, people might say they make millions of dollars, but the reality is there comes a responsibility with that.
“And when I see our captain, in the one year I’ve been here (as Senators owner), there’s been three separate occasions where there’s been fires we had to put out. I can tell you 100 percent there’s never actually been an ounce of discussion about Brady Tkachuk being anything other than an Ottawa Senator.”
Andlauer also questioned the reporting on the story.
“Or he’s being fed false information, and if indeed he’s being fed false information, or people are giving this information from another NHL organization, I don’t know — we just had a big memo about tampering from the NHL. I might consider that soft tampering,” Andlauer said.
Related: Why Chris Drury shouldn’t stop reshaping Rangers roster after Jacob Trouba trade
Senators owner denies interest in trading Brady Tkachuk
Tampering involves hefty fines, contract terminations, and losses of draft picks for teams who get caught in the act. The Rangers responded to Andlauer’s comments, calling the accusation irresponsible.
Being interested in trading for a player is one thing, completely acceptable. But discussing that publicly, when a player is under contract to another team, is another.
Tkachuk reaffirmed his desire to remain with the Senators on Tuesday, telling Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia that he first learned of the rumor when general manager Steve Staios approached him to talk about it.
“It’s stuff I can’t control so it doesn’t really bother me,” Tkachuk said of the media reports.
The Rangers rejected any notion of tampering in a statement to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic on Monday.
“This is an irresponsible accusation, and we defer to the commissioner’s office,” a spokesperson said.
Tkachuk could be what ails the lifeless Rangers these days. He’s got the grit and skill the Rangers desperately need. New York has lost eight of its past 10 games, and is 9-12-0 since a 5-0-1 start this season.
The 25-year-old makes $8.205 million annually on a contract that runs through the 2027-28 season. That means he’d be an expensive get if the Rangers do have interest in acquiring him, both in terms of salary and return in a trade.
Ottawa has missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs in each of the past seven seasons. The Senators (12-13-2) entered Tuesday fifth in the Atlantic Division with 26 points.
The Rangers (14-12-1, 29 points) are fourth in the Metropolitan Division and hold the second wild card in the Eastern Conference, but they’re reeling after a stunning 2-1 home loss to the last-overall Chicago Blackhawks on Monday. New York is 1-2-0 since the Trouba trade and visits the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday.
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