Senators GM reveals return status of captain Brady Tkachuk after securing playoff berth

The Ottawa Senators have made it to the playoffs with a record of 42-30-6. While this is good news, fans are still waiting to hear about captain Brady Tkachuk.

He has missed the Senators' last five games with an injury to his upper body. His last appearance was on March 30 against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The team has not shared how the injury happened.

Ottawa Senators' general manager Steve Staios gave an update on Tkachuk’s condition on Wednesday. He said the captain is still recovering.

“His status is he continues to progress," Staios said, as per reporter Claire Hanna. "Now that we’ve clinched a playoff spot, every team goes through these discussions. What is the best situation? Do you rest players? How do you manage that? We haven’t figured that part out yet.

"To me, you always want to keep the team moving along and competing at a high level to roll into the playoffs at the right time.”

So, the final decision has not been made yet. As of now, Tkachuk has not been skating, which makes it unclear if he will play on Friday against Montreal.

Tkachuk has played 71 games this season, in which he has scored 29 goals and provided 26 assists for a total of 55 points. He also leads the team in goals. Along with scoring, Tkachuk has brought energy with 227 hits and 123 penalty minutes.

Earlier this season, Tkachuk missed games due to a lower-body injury. That happened after he returned from the 4 Nations in February.

The Senators are now focused on preparing for the playoffs. The team will likely be careful with Tkachuk’s recovery. His health will be important for their playoff success.

Brady Tkachuk and Ottawa Senators will head to the playoffs for the first time since 2017

The Ottawa Senators lost 5-2 to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday in their away game. Even with the loss, Ottawa was successful in securing a playoff spot for the first time since 2016-17. They secured the berth after Detroit lost 4-1 to Montreal.

Senators coach Travis Green said he was proud of the team.

“Wish it was coming off a win, but very excited for our team, our players, our fans and proud of our players,” Green said about making it to playoffs, per NHL.com. “They deserve to be in the playoffs this year. It's something that we talked about as a group really all summer, having a training camp, and where we wanted to be at this time of year.”

In their next game, the Ottawa Senators will play the Montreal Canadiens at their home arena, the Canadian Tire Centre.