Brady Tkachuk will make his first trip back to Ottawa this fall, and this time he will be wearing a Florida Panthers sweater.
Daily Faceoff confirmed Thursday that the date is set for October 21st, the moment every Ottawa fan has been circling since the trade.
The move reunites Tkachuk with his older brother, Matthew, putting the two on the same roster for the first time in their NHL careers.
Brady closed this past season with 22 goals, 37 assists and 59 points over 60 games in Florida, adding a plus-4 rating.
Matthew posted 13 goals, 21 assists and 34 points over 31 games for the Panthers this season.
Ottawa finished 44-27-11 for 99 points and ninth overall before Carolina swept them out of the first round in four straight.
Tkachuk was held off the scoresheet in all four of those playoff games, finishing minus-4 in his final stretch in an Ottawa sweater.
The trade reunites him with brother Matthew in Florida
That kind of quiet exit makes this return even heavier. Going back to face the team that shaped you is a strange kind of homecoming.
It's a bit like walking back into your childhood house after someone else moved in. Everything looks familiar, and none of it is yours anymore.
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Boos or a standing ovation? Ottawa's crowd noise on October 21st might say more about the fans than it does about Tkachuk himself.
Booing him outright would be a bad look. He gave that franchise everything he had for years before this summer's trade changed all of it. But do the fans see it that way?
Head coach Travis Green and general manager Steve Staios now have to prepare a group that just lost its longtime face of the franchise.
Whether Tkachuk stays composed early in that game, or lets the moment get to him against his old teammates, is the real thing to watch.
Should Ottawa fans boo Brady Tkachuk when he returns as a Panther?
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