Brady Tkachuk said the constant trade rumors involving him have become a "distraction" for the Ottawa Senators captain.
"I feel like I've answered this hundreds of times. Quite honestly, it's just getting frustrating. It's becoming a distraction. I have been fully committed to this team, to this city. It's just becoming frustrating to deal with," Tkachuk said in his postseason news conference.
Ottawa was swept in the first round by the Carolina Hurricanes. Tkachuk had 59 points in 60 games, including 22 goals, in the regular season. But he went without a point in the four games against Carolina, skating to a minus-4. Immediately after the Senators were eliminated, social media was flooded with speculation about Tkachuk's future, both from fans and insiders.
Tkachuk has played all NHL eight seasons in Ottawa, which drafted him fourth overall in 2018. He has two more years left on a seven-year contract that carries an $8,205,714 salary cap hit and has a full no-movement clause. Tkachuk is eligible to sign a contract extension in summer 2027.
Tkachuk said that despite making the decision to get rid of X, the "algorithms" on other sites deliver him speculation about his future even as he tries to avoid it.
"I don't get why it's a consistent thing. It's happened so many times personally, and it's frustrating to have to answer to something that's never been spoken out of my mouth or the team's mouth," he said.
Tkachuk, 26, said he plans on having a postseason meeting with GM Steve Staios to discuss what the team needs to do to improve as well as what Tkachuk can do better.
"I don't think anybody is more frustrated with how everything went than me," Tkachuk said. "At the end of the day, I didn't play good enough. I tried everything I could to get my game going, but nothing was going in. Nothing was going my way."
Tkachuk praised his team for how it played through adversity throughout the season. Ottawa had the third-best points percentage (.720) in the NHL after the Olympic break. Tkachuk helped Team USA win gold in Milan during that break.
"Everything is very dampened by how the playoffs went, but there was a lot that we dealt with as a group and handled that adversity," he said.
Tkachuk, who welcomed a newborn daughter named Lyla with his wife Emma this week, ended his availability with a message to Senators fans.
"I just want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for the support that you guys had for our team, myself, my family, all year. I really wish we could be playing for you guys still," he said. "You guys brought so much energy, so much joy to our team that it makes it sting [more]."
