Sens' Tkachuk unsure on playing at worlds; Brown to make decision

Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk said Monday he's unsure about playing for Team USA at the World Hockey Championship next week.

Tkachuk said he received a call from USA Hockey to gauge his interest, but cited lingering injuries as a reason for potentially sitting out the tournament.

Brady Tkachuk says USA Hockey called him about playing at Worlds in Finland but the #Sens captain says he's "unsure, there's a couple nagging things I'm going through so we'll see how it unfolds."

"Unsure," Tkachuk said when asked about playing in the tournament, "there's a couple nagging things I'm going through so we'll see how it unfolds."

The 22-year-old has a career-high 29 goals and 62 points in 76 games this season. 

It's also unclear whether fellow Senators forward Connor Brown will play at the tournament for Team Canada after the Senators shut him down for the final week of the season on Monday.

Connor Brown is done for the year. "He's had some nagging injuries and has played through a lot of them. It was affecting his game too much." It will be Brown's call on whether or not he represents Canada in Finland for Worlds. #sens

"He's had some nagging injuries and has played through a lot of them. It was affecting his game too much," Senators head coach DJ Smith said of Brown.

Smith, who will serve as assistant coach for Canada at the worlds, added it will be Brown's decision whether he plays at the tournament or not.