Panthers Finalize Brady Tkachuk Trade for 4 Picks, Including No. 9 Overall

Q: After trading their future for Brady Tkachuk, can the Panthers afford to keep both brothers when his contract expires?

Yes — on the numbers available, Florida should be able to afford both Brady and Matthew Tkachuk when Brady’s deal expires, though it will depend on what else the Panthers do with the roster over the next two years. Brady has two seasons left on his current contract and is set to become an unrestricted free agent after 2027-28. His current cap hit is about $8.2 million. Matthew is already signed long term, through 2029-30, so Florida has cost certainty on one brother while planning for the other. The key factor is the rising NHL salary cap. The material provided projects the cap at roughly $104 million in 2028-29, with Florida carrying about $77.2 million in committed salary, leaving more than $42 million in space. Even using the more conservative projection cited for 2027-28, the Panthers would still have more than $33 million in room before filling out the full roster. That gives them a realistic path to give Brady a major raise and still keep Matthew. The bigger issue is not whether the Panthers can fit both Tkachuks alone, but whether they can do so while also paying for goaltending, depth, and any extensions for other core players. Florida also paid a steep futures price in the trade, which limits cheap young replacements. So the trade does not appear to make a future Brady extension impossible. If the cap keeps rising as expected, keeping both brothers looks financially manageable.

3 articles · Updated · Yahoo Sports · Jun 21

Four draft picks are headed to Ottawa in Florida’s deal for Brady Tkachuk, including the Panthers’ No. 9 overall selection this year and another first-rounder in 2029.
Two of the other picks came from Florida’s earlier Sunday trade that sent Mackie Samoskevich to Seattle, helping the Panthers assemble the package for the Ottawa captain.
Brady Tkachuk leaves the Senators after spending all eight of his NHL seasons there and now joins brother Matthew Tkachuk in Florida.
The move gives the Panthers another offseason blockbuster and reunites the brothers as teammates after also sharing Olympic duty and a podcast.