The Ottawa Senators almost certainly are not trading captain Brady Tkachuk.

But say they did.

What would that look like? Who might trade for him? Recently, Senators owner Michael Andlauer accused the New York Rangers of "soft tampering" (per The Athletic) after word that the Rangers might be interested in the Senators' captain. Words have meaning, and a reporter saying your team might be targeting a good forward in trade talks isn't really what tampering means. That's just reporting. But the discussion is enough to get the old trade machine in the brain going.

Tkachuk himself has, of course, said that he's committed to the Senators. Him staying seems the most likely scenario right now. But if this isn't just smoke and no fire, and he does get traded, here are some packages we might see.

NYR Gets Brady Tkachuk, OTT gets Mika Zibanejad, Drew Fortescue, and a 2025 1st

We're starting with this one because the New York Rangers are where all this conversation began. In discussion online, Alexis Lafreniere's name has been tossed around (unsurprising given that he's only really recently been getting back into the fans' good graces). Still, if the Rangers are trading for a forward like Tkachuk, ideally you'd keep a guy like Lafreniere. High-octane offense is the goal, right?

To make the money work, maybe the Senators bring their 2011 first-round draft pick Mika Zibanejad back. Zibanejad has had a rough go of it recently, and he's been getting slammed by fans, but it's not as if he's washed as a player. A change of scenery might leave him feeling refreshed. Fortescue is a solid defense prospect (though not the Rangers' best), and the first-rounder is something you're probably going to see in a lot of Tkachuk trade proposals, and for good reason.

(In place of Fortescue, you could substitute defensive prospect Matthew Robertson, another guy who might benefit from a change of scenery. Either way, you get out of it without giving up the Rangers' two top prospects, Gabe Perreault and EJ Emery.)

ANA gets Brady Tkachuk, OTT gets Trevor Zegras and 2025 1st

Note: this particular hypothetical trade takes place in the future when Zegras is back from his meniscus repair surgery.

In light of the Rangers news (potentially trading for the Senators' captain in the wake of trading their captain, Jacob Trouba) this one would be especially entertaining. And you can't deny that Trevor Zegras could do with a change of scenery, any more than you can deny that the Ducks need something to push them to the next level. Tkachuk is that caliber of player.

I genuinely do not see the Senators trading Tkachuk without getting a first-rounder back unless we find a pure one-for-one hockey trade. And those are rare. They don't have to trade Tkachuk. The team isn't doing amazingly, but they're not in the pits yet like other teams in the league, and the relationship with Tkachuk is still good. Ergo, any trade package coming back for Tkachuk would also have to be good—something to genuinely improve the team from a hockey standpoint.

Would Zegras improve the Senators? That's something that would be pretty up in the air for a minute. But would it be fun to watch him play with guys like Stutzle and Giroux? Absolutely.

BUF gets Brady Tkachuk, OTT gets Dylan Cozens, a 2025 1st, and a 2026 2nd

Lately, there's been a bit of chatter around Dylan Cozens potentially being on the block for the Buffalo Sabres. Acquiring a guy like Brady Tkachuk might be the move that the Sabres need to boost them out of their (quite long at this point) rut. Conversely, moving Cozens—another player with a slower start to his season—might provide a boost in the form of a new environment and a fresh start. But Cozens alone wouldn't be enough to acquire Tkachuk. He doesn't bring the same level of offensive output that Tkachuk does, for one thing.

With Cozens' salary being what it is, it nearly eats up all the cap space that trading Tkachuk would free up, so it doesn't make much sense to try and bring another roster player back as well. The Senators would then have to send another one of their roster players to make the math work, and frankly, that could easily turn into a game of musical chairs. And while the Sabres' prospect pool isn't terrible, it would make sense for the Senators to acquire another pick, rather than a prospect, so that they could use it to select a player themselves.

This is the sort of trade package you might see if those trade rumors float around long enough.

FLA gets Tkachuk, OTT gets Eetu Luostarinen, Adam Boqvist, Spencer Knight, & 2026 1st

Say the Brady Tkachuk trade rumors are still out there at the deadline, and the Panthers decide to swing for the fences. They want both Tkachuks. What pieces might need to move around to make that happen?

(Disclaimer: this one is entirely for fun. I don't see it happening, but figuring out how it might is a really fun thought experiment. And who wouldn't want to see what happens with Brady and Matthew on the same team? Just go with it.)

Adam Boqvist has spent some time in the press box. Spencer Knight could probably use a change of scenery. And sorry, Eetu Luostarinen—it's nothing personal, but moving you out makes the money work and if they're acquiring Brady Tkachuk, the team could do without you. That 2026 1st would probably get top-five protected, just in case the Panthers tank and end up getting a lottery pick in the Gavin McKenna draft, but it would get thrown in there to sweeten the deal. We haven't had a good blockbuster trade in a minute. Why not use one to reunite two brothers and let them make a run at a Cup together?