Since being drafted fourth overall in the 2018 NHL Draft, Brady Tkachuk has been a major piece to the Ottawa Senators. In 2025, the Senators made the playoffs for the first time since 2017 with Tkachuk as captain.
There's no denying that Brady and his brother Matthew have become two of the most popular players in the NHL. Matthew has had recent success over the past two seasons by winning back-to-back Stanley Cup championships with the Florida Panthers, but Brady is still a talented star player on the Senators.
Along with being Senators captain, Brady has turned into one of the best American players in the NHL. However, recent NHL scheduling with a talented American player might not have made sense surrounding Brady.
Senators and Brady get zero U.S. national televised games scheduled for 2025-26 season
Earlier today, the NHL announced the U.S. national televised schedule for the 2025-26 season for TNT, ESPN/ABC and ESPN+. The Senators have zero national televised games for their upcoming season in the United States. With Brady on the Senators roster, it might not make much sense.
Brady has become one of the best and most popular American players in the NHL. However, his brother Matthew's Panthers will have 15 national televised games in America for the 2025-26 season.
In 2025, Brady got attention among hockey fans in the United States. It started in February during the 4 Nations Face-Off. In Team USA's first 4 Nations Face-Off game against Finland, Brady scored Team USA's first goal in the tournament.
The following game against Canada is where Brady got more recognition. Brady dropped the gloves three seconds into the game against Canada's Sam Bennett. Brady sent the Bell Centre crowd in Montreal into a frenzy with getting into a fight one second after his brother Matthew did.
Brady scored a goal in the 4 Nations Face-Off championship game against Canada. This past June, Brady got more American recognition when he was one of the first six players announced to Team USA's roster for the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Not having one U.S. national televised game for a player who was a major piece to Team USA's 4 Nations Face-Off roster, and is already on Team USA's 2026 Winter Olympics roster, might be off for Brady as an American captain of an NHL team.
It also can be more off for the NHL to not have one Senators national televised game schedule in American considering Brady is on the NHL 26 Deluxe Edition with Matthew and his father Keith.
The Edmonton Oilers and Toronto Maple Leafs are the only two Canadian teams to have U.S. national televised games on the schedule for the upcoming 2025-26 season. However, leaving Brady and the Senators out might have been a head scratcher after not just Brady's Team USA play, but also the Senators making the 2025 playoffs.