Senators owner accuses Rangers of 'soft tampering' after report of Brady Tkachuk interest

The New York Rangers had an eventful day this past Friday, to say the least. They traded team captain and defenseman Jacob Trouba to the Anaheim Ducks after threatening to place him on waivers to essentially get his contract off the books. The Rangers then used the new money to give goaltender Igor Shesterkin an eight-year, $92 million contract extension. Oh, and they defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins that same night.

While there has been fallout from the Trouba trade and how everything was handled, there was a report that shook up the entire NHL. Larry Brooks of the New York Post reported that Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk was a "primary target" of the Rangers (subscription required), as they looked to retool their roster.

Well, Senators owner Michael Andlauer wasn't a fan of that report. While speaking with The Athletic in a sit-down interview, Andlauer accused the Rangers of "soft tampering" with the aforementioned report.

“Here’s my frustration: I talk about how I care for these players, and I care for their families — you make a commitment to a team for six, seven years, you set roots in the community, you’re part of this community, there’s a lot of pressure on these young men,” Andlauer told The Athletic. “Yes, people might say they make millions of dollars, but the reality is there comes a responsibility with that.

“And when I see our captain, in the one year I’ve been here (as Senators owner), there’s been three separate occasions where there’s been fires we had to put out. I can tell you 100 percent there’s never actually been an ounce of discussion about Brady Tkachuk being anything other than an Ottawa Senator.”

Senators owner accuses Rangers of 'soft tampering' over Brady Tkachuk reports

Andlauer continued, saying he was frustrated with the reporting, whether it was false information or if Brooks was being fed this information from another NHL team.

“Or he’s being fed false information and if indeed he’s being fed false information, or people are giving this information from another NHL organization, I don’t know — we just had a big memo about tampering from the NHL. I might consider that soft tampering,” said Andlauer.

The Rangers were made aware of Andlauer's comments, calling the accusations, "an irresponsible accusation and we defer to the Commissioner's office."

Sportsnet NHL insider discussed the Tkachuk report this past weekend, saying that the feeling is that the Senators are confident in keeping the star for the remaining three-plus years of his contract.

"I think the Senators are very, very confident," Friedman said, h/t Sportsnet. "He's signed for three more seasons and I think they're very, very confident that he is going to play out to the full end of the contract."

It's no secret that the Rangers are struggling mightily this season. After they fell short of the Eastern Conference Finals, the team made rather minimal moves this past summer, with the only move of note being the acquisition of Reilly Smith from the Pittsburgh Penguins. As of this writing, the team is 14-11-1 on the season with 26 points. While they are still in the Wild Card hunt, they looked outmatched and lifeless during their recent skid.

Speaking of the recent skid, that was when reports indicated that the Rangers were open to trading Trouba and forward Chris Kreider. Ultimately, the Rangers dealt Trouba to the Ducks in exchange for defenseman Urho Vaakananein and a 2025 fourth-round pick. It's unknown if the Rangers will make any other moves to try to shake up a roster that looks shaky at best.

Tkachuk would be a big addition for the Rangers if the Senators were legitimately looking to trade him. This season, Tkachuk scored 13 goals and dished out 16 assists in 27 games played. The Senators are currently three points back of the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference.

But Tkachuk is not available in trade talks, based on Andlauer's comments, and the team owner is looking to get to the bottom of how the report came to light and if the Rangers were involved.