Now teammates, Panthers' Tkachuk brothers eager to see what they can do together

Brady Tkachuk made an immediate impression on the Florida Panthers.

It was Game 1 of the pre-season, his first game in Florida Panthers colours. He already had a goal and an assist, then took exception when someone decided to send Aleksander Barkov into the boards with a hit that the Panthers deemed excessive. So, he got into a fight to protect his captain, then headed to the penalty box with a satisfied look upon his face.

When he got there, Matthew Tkachuk nodded and smiled. Big bro approved, as did everyone else on the Florida bench.

"Brady fits right into the need that we had," Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said from Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Oh, brother. Everything changed for Florida when Matthew Tkachuk arrived in 2022. The move allowed the team to graduate from simply being a good regular-season club to one tough enough to reach three consecutive Stanley Cup finals and win two in a row.

And now, his brother Brady — bigger, stronger and younger than Matthew — is with the Panthers as well, looking to win and win big, something that didn't happen in the first chapter of his career when he played for the Ottawa Senators.

It always seemed inevitable they would team up. The family dream is now reality, and Florida, which opens its season Tuesday at Stanley Cup champion Carolina, can't wait to see how it is all going to work.

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"It's a dream come true to play with players like that," Barkov said.

How will one brother make the other better, and more importantly, how will having two Tkachuks make the Panthers better?

Florida hockey operations president and