'It's deserved': Ottawa Senators fans planning hostile reception for Brady Tkachuk's return

Matthew Vita was one of countless Ottawa Senators fans who felt duty-bond to defend Brady Tkachuk from speculation that the captain wanted out last season.

“I was saying that, like, the rumours are fake, they’re false,” Vita told the Ottawa Citizen in a phone interview on Tuesday. “Like, ‘Brady’s not leaving, he’s not going anywhere.’ Plus, he also said it himself, right? So, we believed him.”

While Tkachuk’s responses to questions of allegiance became rather ambiguous near the end of the 2025-26 campaign, he had made a point to separate himself from his big brother’s legacy — Matthew fled the Calgary Flames for Florida three years prior — in an Amazon Prime Video docuseries released during training camp.

“It’s just two different stories,” Tkachuk swore. “Matthew went on his path and it worked out for him. My path is chugging along and grinding it out and winning a Stanley Cup for the Ottawa Senators.”

After Tkachuk was dealt to the Panthers this past June, and Ottawa general manager Steve Staios confirmed a trade request had been made, Vita felt like a “sucker.”

Tkachuk had two years left on his contract with the Senators.

“I really was thinking he was going to play this out,” Vita said. “If he finished his two years and then after a decade of being a Sen, you know, he wants to go back to America and play with his brother, no one could fault him for that. But the way he did it … You failed. You’re the captain. You’re supposed to go down with the ship.”

When Tkachuk steps on Canadian Tire Centre ice for the first time wearing another team’s sweater Wednesday night, Vita will be there, booing relentlessly.

“He knows it’s coming,” Vita said. “Because it’s deserved.”

Daniel Pantalone will be wearing his Daniel Alfredsson jersey — his “pride and joy” — for Tkachuk’s return. To some extent, he’s relieved to move on, no longer waking up to new reports and hearsay about his captain’s loyalty.

“It was better to get it over with and basically rip the Band-Aid off, in that sense,” Pantalone said. “Am I mad? Yeah, of course, as everyone should be. He let his ego and such outside of hockey get in the way. Do I care enough to let this continue (to be) a thing? No.”

Pantalone remains unsure how he’ll react to the tribute video during the first TV timeout.

“We can boo him all day ’til we’re red in the face,” he said. “But we shouldn’t be worrying about him at all. This year’s been great with (Linus) Ullmark playing to his game and the team in front being a way more composed team. I may give (Tkachuk) some claps, who knows? Maybe I’ll be part of the first boos when he touches the puck.

“I am truly more interested in making sure we beat them and move up in the standings.”

Adam Coplan has conflicting feelings about all of this. He’s witnessed Tkachuk’s kindness and generosity firsthand.

Coplan and his friends have raised over $20,000 in conjunction with the Sens Foundation for the Tkachuk’s Captains program at BGC Ottawa, walking to a Senators home game from downtown each spring.

In 2025, Tkachuk’s wife, Emma, met Coplan at LeBreton Flats ahead of the journey, expressing the couple’s gratitude. Emma said she and her husband had planned to tag along for a couple kilometres, but Tkachuk had recently sustained an injury.

Nearing the end of their 29.5-kilometre trek this past March, Coplan’s crew met up with young members of Tkachuk’s Captains to finish the walk and watch the game together. Tkachuk spent time with them all later that night.

“I’ll never forget the way that he treated BGC and my friends and I,” Coplan said. “And the time that he took, and how grateful he was. That’s a side of him that not everybody maybe has as unique of a perspective on as I do. … I was lucky enough to see him in that light.”

But Coplan is, first and foremost, a “big, diehard Sens fan.” He’ll be at the game Wednesday and will not hold back.

“I can be straight up — I will definitely be booing,” Coplan admitted. “That’s just kind of what sports are. When you buy a ticket to the game, you should be able to do whatever you want as long as it’s within reason.”

In a recent episode of their Wingmen podcast, Tkachuk announced that any No. 7 Senators jersey thrown on the ice during Wednesday’s game will be donated to BGC Ottawa.

“I don’t recommend doing it,” Tkachuk said. “But we can also make this a new tribute instead.”

“I would love to see 10,000 Tkachuk jerseys on the ice,” brother Matthew quipped.

Vita plans to do his part in helping hit that lofty number. His girlfriend thrifted a Tkachuk jersey years ago and she has no use for it anymore.

“It sends him a message even he understands,” Vita said.