The Senators Don’t Need Another Brady Tkachuk

The Ottawa Senators are getting closer to naming their next captain, and there are several reasonable choices. Thomas Chabot has been around longer than anybody else on the roster. Claude Giroux brings experience. Tim Stützle is one of the faces of the franchise. Jake Sanderson looks like the kind of player who could wear the "C" for a long time.

But maybe the more interesting question isn't simply who deserves the captaincy. It's what Ottawa needs from its next captain now that Brady Tkachuk is gone. Tkachuk was a pretty easy player to identify with. He played with emotion, played with an edge, and wasn't afraid to let everybody know what he was thinking. He was also around through some pretty difficult years in Ottawa. The next captain doesn't have to duplicate any of that. In fact, trying to find another Brady Tkachuk might be exactly the wrong way to approach this.

Thomas Chabot Might Be the Right Choice.

Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun believes Thomas Chabot should get the job, and it's not difficult to understand the argument. Chabot has been with the Senators through some pretty lean years and has stuck around long enough to become the longest-tenured player on the roster. (from Why Thomas Chabot deserves to be the Ottawa Senators’ next captain, Ottawa Sun, 08/25/2026)

That matters. A captain doesn't have to be the loudest player in the room. Sometimes it's the guy who has been through enough with an organization that his teammates know exactly what he's about. Chabot has seen the Senators struggle, rebuild and finally start to look like a team capable of doing something.

There's also something appealing about giving the "C" to a player who has already been part of the organization for so long. It would give Ottawa some continuity without pretending that nothing has changed.

Ottawa May Be Ready for a Different Kind of Leader.

But Stützle and Sanderson complicate this, and that's where the decision gets interesting. Both are central to what Ottawa hopes to become. Stützle is already one of the team's offensive stars, while Sanderson looks like the kind of defenceman a franchise can build around for years.

If the Senators believe their window is finally opening, they could decide the captain should represent where they're going rather than where they've been. That's why I'd lean toward Chabot, at least for now. Not because he's necessarily the most charismatic player or the biggest star, but because there is something valuable about handing the captaincy to somebody who has lived through the difficult part and is still here for the better part.

Tkachuk Seemed Like the Right Captain, Until He Revealed He Wanted Out.

Ottawa doesn't need another Brady Tkachuk. It needs somebody who can help the Senators become whatever comes next. And perhaps that's the real test of the new captain. The job isn't to replace the old captain. It's to make people stop talking about the old captain.