Brady Tkachuk’s Return to Ottawa Is Already Marked on the Calendar. Senators Fans Are Ready.

The NHL dropped the full 84-game schedule for 2026-27 on Wednesday, and for Senators fans, one date jumps off the page immediately.

Brady Tkachuk will walk back into Canadian Tire Centre on Wednesday, October 21. That’s when the former Ottawa captain returns for the first time since the Florida Panthers pried him away in one of the biggest trades of the offseason. And yeah, the reception is going to be loud.

It won’t be a one-time thing either. Tkachuk’s new team hosts the Senators on November 25 and January 18. Then he comes back to Ottawa again on March 18. So fans will get a few cracks at letting him hear it.

Why This One Stings for Ottawa

Tkachuk was the fourth overall pick in 2018 and spent seven seasons in a Senators sweater. He played 572 games for the franchise — tenth most all-time — and put up 213 goals and 250 assists. That puts him fourth in goals, eighth in assists, and fifth in total points in franchise history. Those are real numbers. Not flash-in-the-pan stuff.

But the trade itself is only part of the story. The guy was the face of the rebuild. Fans watched him scrap, score, and drag that team through some brutal seasons. Seeing him in a Panthers jersey is going to sit weird for a lot of people. And they’re not shy about saying so online.

Then there’s the Daniel Alfredsson thing. The greatest Senator ever — all-time leader in goals, assists, and points, first player in franchise history to have his number retired — was an assistant coach for Ottawa last season. In a move that genuinely surprised people, Alfredsson took a job with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Their rival. The team Ottawa fans hate more than any other. He’ll be in the building on January 20, and you can bet that crowd will have something to say about it.

Schedule Openers and Early Tests

The Senators open their season on October 3 against Toronto, then hit the road for Boston and Detroit before their home opener on October 8 against Philadelphia. That first home game will have some juice, but October 21 is the one circled in red.

As for Tkachuk? He hasn’t said much publicly about the return. No dramatic Instagram posts or pre-planned statements. He’s a hockey player. He’ll show up, play hard, and probably pretend the booing is just background noise. But it’s going to be a moment. The building will be buzzing, the fans will be fired up, and for one night in late October, a regular-season game will feel like something more.