Senators warned about looming trade of $57.5 million superstar

Senators warned about looming trade of $57.5 million superstar originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Ottawa Senators aren’t going to trade away one of their superstars just yet.

But they’ve been warned: The current trend line isn’t good news for keeping Brady Tkachuk in the long term.

Daily Faceoff writer Matt Larkin put together a list of players who it might be «too soon» to trade but who also might be heading toward a deal out of town if things don’t improve.

Tkachuk is one of the guys he named.

The problem? A season after returning to the playoffs, the Senators aren’t having as good a season this time around.

«He was pretty sick of losing…how will he take if it he’s right back out of the playoffs one year after it took him seven seasons to finally make it?» Larkin wonders.

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Tkachuk is in the middle of a contract that will pay him a total of $57.5 million through the 2027-28 season.

The former No. 4 overall pick is still just 26 years old, and he’s one of the NHL’s most physical forwards who can also score with the best of them.

This season, Tkachuk has played in 32 games and put up 32 points, between 12 goals and 20 assists. He also has 91 hits.

For his career, Tkachuk has 436 points (203 goals, 233 assists) in 544 games with 1,850 hits.

He has played all eight of his seasons for the Senators.

At some point, Tkachuk could want more.

It’s up to Ottawa to improve in time to keep Tkachuk happy and in town.