‘Feel pretty awful’ good right now’: Senators captain Tkachuk stacked for comeback

OTTAWA – Ottawa Senators fans should breathe a sigh of relief with the news that Brady Tkachuk will be back in the lineup on Friday against St. Louis.

“I’m not going to lie to you, I’m not a fan of watching (hockey) in there (in the press box),” Tkachuk told the media, via video call, about his feelings during his injury layoff.

And there was really no mistaking that Tkachuk was excited to be back.

“I’m feeling pretty good right now,” he said.

When Tkachuk went down with a finger injury in the third game of the season against the Nashville Predators on Oct. 13, panic set in, and somewhat rightfully so. Tkachuk is a monster presence that was always going to be irreversible.

It was the ultimate test for the senators. They passed.

“Everybody raised their standards,” Tkachuk said.

With Tkachuk, the Senators improved, with an 11-5-4 record. The Senators will now have the ultimate wingman rejoining their lineup when they are on a roll.

“Made recovery a little better,” Tkachuk said. “It makes my life a lot easier, seeing all the wins.”

With the Senators’ emotional leader and face of the franchise back, we’re going to find out just how good this Ottawa Senators team can be.

They could be great, considering how they played without him the last six weeks.

But be aware of expectations in Game 1.

“Perfection is not expected immediately,” Tkachuk said.

However, Tkachuk is a one-of-a-kind hockey player, with size, skill and physicality, along with an impressive personality. He announced his return earlier this week on his new podcast with his brother Matthew, star of the Florida Panthers. As far as anyone knows, this marks the first time an NHLer has announced his return on a podcast.

“It’s never something I expected to be doing by myself, but since we started, it feels like I was meant to,” Tkachuk said of his podcast.

You might be thinking to yourself, sure Tkachuk will make the Senators better, but in what ways?

Here’s how he’ll improve the team.

Tim Stuttle has been an absolute force this season since Tkachuk went down, with 11 goals, 21 points in 20 games. without His captain. However, you have to think that Stutzle will be better with his teammates on his left side to round out the offense. No shade on David Perron or Nick Cousins, who are drilling, but they’re not in the stratosphere with Tkachuk.

In their careers together, Tkachuk has set up Stutz 29 times (22 primary assists) while Stutz has set up Tkachuk 57 times (30 primary assists).

Stutzel’s dynamism as a skater can be difficult to match, especially for a big man like Tkachuk; But Tkachuk’s injury forced him to work with the Senators’ skating coach twice a week on power skating, including bag skating.

“The No. 1 thing I feel most confident about right now is my skating,” Tkachuk said.

His brother Matthew commented on their podcast that he had never seen him so fast. It may be that he should stick with Stutzle more often than in the past.

Since the 2022-23 season, Tkachuk and Stutzle have combined for the majority of their ice time at five. Meanwhile, with the pair on the ice, the Senators have outscored opponents 100-93 on five-for-five. When they are not on the ice, the team has been outscored 312-245. This season, however, the Senators have a goal differential of plus-8 with Stutzel on the ice and a minus-5 with him.

The point is that the Senators’ top line goes from good to elite with Tkachuk back with Stutzle. Ottawa’s offense is 11th in goals per game, and there is every reason to expect the Captains to improve back in the lineup.

Speaking of offense, despite a hot start on the power play this season, the Senators are just 4-for-37 in their last 13 games. Tkachuk is a threat in front of the net using his elite shot when needed. He has 120 power play points in his career and has averaged 24 per season over the past three seasons. Ottawa’s struggling power play will be vastly improved with Tkachuk in the lineup.

Second- and fourth-line slotting bumps

One downside of Tkachuk’s insertion back into the lineup is the domino effect it has through the rest of the lines. In hockey, the belief of “next man up”. One is familiar, and when players take on bigger roles due to injury, they are also often less capable of their new roles. For example, Peron has been on the top line and Lars Eller Ridley is playing on the second line with Greg Out.

The second and fourth lines have struggled, being eliminated each season. As a second line center, Dylan Cousins ​​is a minus-11 and Eller is a minus-4. With the return of the captain, Perron will likely return to a more suitable second line role and it can be said that Eller will return as a natural fourth line center. Digging matters to avoid injuries; It’s also important when you’re healthy, of course.

We don’t expect changes to the best third line in hockey — Michael Amadio-Shane Pinto-Claude Giroux — but both the second and fourth lines will be strengthened with Tkachuk back.

Tkachuk’s most valuable attribute is the most unbelievable: leadership.

Tkachuk brings a quality of infectious enthusiasm to the game. His presence will be felt not only on the score sheet but among the teams and the entire organization. He also teased Senators head athletic therapist Dom Nicoletta with the “Wingman of the Week” award on his podcast for his work treating and rehabilitating a concussion through his finger injury.

“I (also) had to push the equipment guys a little bit, even though they provided very little in six weeks,” Tkachuk said, joking.

Guess how good this team can be

The Senators have been really good this season. Now we can finally measure how good they can be. Senators can’t breathe too much with their captain’s back and need to avoid lifting their skates off the pedal.

“The biggest thing for me is maturity and finding ways to win,” Tkachuk said, referring to his team’s play without him in the lineup.

“There have been games where it’s not the prettiest, but you find a way to get a point or two big points to come out of the win.”

It should be very beautiful with cotton.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that he expects the Senators to be aggressive on the trade market this offseason. The brass knows that the window to compete is now, in the next two to three years.

Tkachuk undoubtedly makes the Senators better and we’re going to find out what the true potential of this Senators team is as they try to compete for a real Cup.

Captain Podcast: Hockey player/podcaster Tkachuk said the opportunity to start the Wingman podcast came to his attention after the 4 Nations tournament with brother Matthew. He pointed to the fact that there were no active NHL players who had a podcast until now.

“If there was a podcast (when) we were kids coming in, playing youth hockey. … I would tune in all the time,” Tkachuk said.

Surgery affects home life: Not being able to use your finger can affect a hockey player’s personal and professional life, which we tend to forget.

“I was useless for the first two weeks,” he joked. “I felt really bad for (wife) Emma. I couldn’t really help with (son) Ryder and certainly couldn’t do stuff around the house.”

“Some new skills I had to learn with my left hand,” Tkachuk said.

“Brushing my teeth and stuff, where the first couple of days it probably feels like I haven’t even brushed them because I’ve done such a bad job.”