What Steve Staios and the Senators just did to Brady Tkachuk and his wife Emma is a bad look

General manager Steve Staios confirmed Monday that Tkachuk had formally requested a trade.

That is the business part. The other part is the Senators' official Instagram account unfollowing Emma Tkachuk, Brady's wife, shortly after news of the deal broke.

One unfollow should not define a franchise. But in Ottawa's case, it fits a pattern too consistent to dismiss.

Brady Tkachuk scored 213 goals in 572 regular-season games as a Senator. He was named the 10th captain in franchise history.

He posted 59 points in 60 games this past season with a cap hit of $8.2 million - one of the better value contracts in the league.

He did not leave because he stopped caring.

Daniel Alfredsson left for Detroit in 2013 after a decade of loyalty. Erik Karlsson was traded to San Jose in 2018 under a cloud of dysfunction.

Mark Stone was dealt to Vegas in 2019 after his own trade request. Now Tkachuk has joined that list.

Four franchise cornerstones, four exits carrying real bitterness. Steve Staios did extract genuine value - the ninth and 25th overall picks in the 2026 NHL Draft, plus future assets, is a strong return for a player who wanted out.

The picks can become players. What is harder to rebuild is the reputation of being the team that unfollows a departing captain's wife on social media while his trade request is still making headlines.

Players around the league notice things like that. Staios can build around Tim Stützle and Jake Sanderson as the new core.

The culture question, though, is something no draft pick fixes.

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