The Ottawa Senators captain and winger, Brady Tkachuk, 26, is linked to a potential trade ahead of the upcoming 2026-27 season of the NHL. If Ottawa Citizen sports journalist Bruce Garrioch gets proven right, he could join the Minnesota Wild in a deal for their impressive 23-year-old goaltender Jesper Wallstedt.

Wild’s GM Bill Guerin is seemingly quite high on Tkachuk and wants to cash in on Wallstedt after the latter played a role in taking them to the Western Conference second round. They lost to the Colorado Avalanche 4-1 in the playoff series under head coach John Hynes.

“Bruce Garrioch: Re Jesper Wallstedt: GM Bill Guerin will want a huge return. The belief is that the Wild would want Ottawa captain Brady Tkachuk as part of a package for Wallstedt - Ottawa Citizen (5/19),” NHL Rumor Report quoted Bruce Garrioch as saying in their recent post on X.

After being selected by the Senators as the fourth overall pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, Tkachuk has become the heart and soul of the franchise over the years. He played a major role in taking them to the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the last two seasons.

Notably, during his NHL career, Tkachuk has made 572 regular-season appearances for Ottawa, scoring 463 points (213G / 250A). It included 59 points (22G / 37A) in 60 games in the 2025-26 season after missing the start due to undergoing surgery for a torn adductor muscle and sports hernia.

Tkachuk has played 10 playoff games for the Senators in the last two seasons, scoring seven points (4G / 3A). He missed out on registering any points last month while being swept by the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs.

Will the Ottawa Senators accept trading their captain, Brady Tkachuk, for rising star Jesper Wallstedt?

The Ottawa Senators made Brady Tkachuk their 10th captain in history in 2021 during his fourth season with the franchise. In 2025, he played a key role in taking them to their first playoffs since the 2016-17 season.

After returning from injury earlier this year, Tkachuk was once again the centerpiece at the Senators under GM Steve Staios and head coach Travis Green. It led to the American delivering back-to-back playoff appearances.

As far as young goaltender Jesper Wallstedt is concerned, he made 33 saves in 35 appearances for the Minnesota Wild during the 2025-26 regular season. In a coming-of-age campaign for himself, he also made 10 saves in the 10 playoff games in the postseason.

It led to him finishing in sixth place in the voting for the prestigious Calder Memorial Trophy. Before this season, Wallstedt had played only five games in total for the Wild following their selection of him as the 20th overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft.

But now, after Filip Gustavsson signed a five-year contract extension as the primary goaltender, Wallstedt might be tempted to leave Minnesota with his growing ambitions. He is currently signed with them to a two-year contract until the 2026-27 season.

The Senators are also in need of a reliable goaltender after Linus Ullmark struggled on and off the ice in the 2025-26 season. With all of that, they might get tempted to trade Tkachuk for Wallstedt in the offseason.

Have the Ottawa Senators fans already seen the last of Brady Tkachuk in their jersey? Tell us in the comments.

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Written by

Arjun Sharma

Edited by

Ankita Yadav