Ottawa Senators shopping captain Brady Tkachuk

This season, Ottawa has experienced a great deal of change. To begin with, the team was sold shortly before the season began. Throughout the season, there were more changes, including the dismissal of Head Coach D.J. Smith and General Manager Pierre Dorion.

There may be more franchise alerting roster updates coming soon. Jeremy Rutherford of St. Louis Blues hockey writes that Brady Tkachuk, the captain of the Senators, is being mentioned in trade discussions.

The space has made much of the Tkachuk connection to St. Louis. Before he was moved to the Florida Panthers two summers ago, Brady's brother Matthew was supposedly being considered by the Blues. Keith, the father of Brady and Matthew, was a Blues player for nine seasons.

Brady Tkachuk, 24, led the Senators in scoring in the previous year, finishing with 37 goals and 74 points in 81 games. His contract has four years left on it, with a $8,205,714 cap hit. This season, Tkachuk's contract has no trade protection, thus the Senators are free to transfer him to any team that offers the highest compensation. But if Ottawa bides its time until the following campaign, Tkachuk might push the team's hand.

Every other general manager in the league ought to be contacting the Senators if Steve Staios, their general manager, has actually made Tkachuk available. In the modern NHL, Tkachuk's power forward style is uncommon.

Brady must be aching for the opportunity to participate in some playoff games of his own, having watched his brother Matthew go on two successful postseason trips with the Panthers.

With the present core of the roster incapable of going to the next level, Ottawa is in dire need of change. There could be a lot of fascinating decisions to be made this summer regarding franchise changes.