Brady Tkachuk stood at the podium in a Florida Panthers jersey on Tuesday, and he wasn’t the only one grinning. General manager Bill Zito sat next to him, clearly enjoying himself. That’s rare for a guy who just traded for a star forward after a season that ended with no playoffs.
Zito was asked how he feels about where the Panthers are right now. His answer was honest and weirdly fun.
“I feel great. We have all the pros in town actually a little early. Every day we sit back there and play fantasy hockey, trying to figure out ways to improve,” Zito said. “We will continue to do that. We’re not done. We will be very focused and very thorough in how we evaluate each position moving forward. We have to get it right.”
The Panthers came into this season as back-to-back Stanley Cup champions. Then they missed the playoffs entirely. That’s a brutal fall. But Zito doesn’t seem rattled. He called the challenge “a lot of fun.”
The big move was trading with the Ottawa Senators for Brady Tkachuk, who now joins his brother Matthew in Florida. Two brothers. Same team. Same city. Both known for playing mean and loud. It’s the kind of story that writes itself.
Brady Tkachuk is ready to prove he fits right in
At the press conference, Brady was careful not to oversell it. He talked about how tight the group is and how everyone buys in.
“I feel like it’s the closest group in the league, everybody is just doing stuff together,” Brady said. “Everybody is a part of the puzzle. Everybody, their sole focus is winning.”
Zito put it more bluntly in a team release. He called Brady “a dynamic competitor and one of the most physical and relentless forwards in the league.” A proven leader. The kind of guy who makes teammates better on and off the ice. Exactly what the Panthers need after a season where they looked lost.
You can spin this one of two ways. Either the Tkachuk brothers drag the Panthers back into contention, or the pressure of being the two most aggressive players on a team trying to recapture glory gets messy. But Zito isn’t thinking about that. He’s thinking about the next puzzle piece.
The Panthers still have work to do. They missed the postseason in 2025-26, and nobody saw that coming after back-to-back championships. The window isn’t closed, but it’s not wide open either. Zito knows it. He said they’re not done yet. That’s not GM-speak. That’s a guy who spends his days playing fantasy hockey for real.
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