Panthers' Brady Tkachuk Plans to Donate Any Jerseys Senators Fans Throw on Ice to Charity

Florida Panthers forward Brady Tkachuk says he already has plans for what he'll do with any jerseys disgruntled Ottawa Senators throw on the ice during their former captain's Wednesday night homecoming.

"Just talking with our team, and gonna be talking with the Boys and Girls Club, that every jersey that gets thrown on the ice is going to get donated to a friend at the Boys and Girls Club in Ottawa," Tkachuk said around the 14:10 mark of Tuesday's Wingmen podcast with his brother and teammate Matthew Tkachuk.

"So, I don't recommend doing it, but... if you're going to do it, and send a message, just know it's going to a good cause. I receive your message, and it's going to a good cause. I almost appreciate it."

Tkachuk served as captain of the Senators for five seasons prior to his June trade to the Panthers. The move came shortly after the Senators lost in the first round of the playoffs for a second straight season.

Senators general manager Steve Staios later said Tkachuk had requested a trade and leveraged his no-move clause in order to land with the Panthers.

Tkachuk's brother went through his own split with a Canadian team four years ago. Matthew played six seasons with the Calgary Flames before informing the team he wouldn't sign an extension prior to his 2022 trade to the Panthers.

Matthew noted on the podcast his return to Calgary had less of an impact in part because the game featured teams from opposite conferences.

Brady's return to Ottawa, on the other hand, represents a divisional matchup for two teams heading into Wednesday neck-and-neck in the Atlantic standings.

"It's nice for me, too, because I'm just going to focus on that," Tkachuk said. "It is an intra-divisional game. Is it a big game individually? Yes. But it's a bigger game for our team. That's a four-point swing. I know that's going to be my focus of a distraction away from all the other stuff."

Wednesday's homecoming, which Tkachuk said he was "going to be nervous" for, comes just as the Panthers are heating up despite losing Brad Marchand and Aleksander Barkov to injury during the early stretch of the season.

Tkachuk has scored nine points in his last three games while becoming the third player in NHL history to record natural hat tricks in consecutive games. That has helped the Panthers stack three straight wins heading into this week's four-game road swing.

Tkachuk isn't the only former captain preparing for a potentially dramatic return to his former home arena this week. Former Vancouver Canucks star Quinn Hughes is preparing to come back to Rogers Arena this Sunday for the first time since he was traded last December to the Minnesota Wild.