When the Florida Panthers acquired forward Brady Tkachuk in a trade with the Ottawa Senators over the summer, hockey fans and pundits everywhere bemoaned the fact that an already established champion was slowly becoming a super team.
And who could blame them? After all, the Cats were coming off of winning back-to-back Stanley Cups just 12 months earlier, and the only reason they missed the playoffs in 2026 was due in large part to a historic rash of injuries to some of their biggest stars.
Adding Tkachuk seemed like a case of the rich getting richer, as Florida recovered to full strength while adding one of the best young players in the game to their roster.
Matthew Tkachuk and Brady Tkachuk of the Florida Panthers skate during the third period against the Carolina Hurricanes at Lenovo Center in Raleigh, N.C., on Sept. 29, 2026. (Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
For the first couple weeks of the season, it looked like the addition of Matthew’s younger brother was all smoke and mirrors, with Brady being held to zero points through the first five games of the year.
Rival fans were quick to jump all over this fact, given that both the Panthers and the Tkachuk brothers were seen as polarizing villains throughout the NHL.
The internet had a field day, but just as the fans started to take their victory laps, Brady got hot.
Then he became nuclear.
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After breaking the points seal three games prior with an assist in a 5-3 loss in Buffalo, the younger Tkachuk brother notched back-to-back hat tricks in wins over Columbus on Tuesday and Vancouver on Thursday, becoming the first to do so since fellow American Auston Matthews in 2024.
His three goals against the Canucks proved to be the difference, too, as the Cats needed every bit of Brady’s offensive prowess to squeak out a 3-2 victory in overtime.
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Brady Tkachuk is congratulated by his brother Matthew Tkachuk after scoring a goal during the second period against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, on Oct. 13, 2026. (NHLI via Getty Images)
Not bad, eh? But it gets even better.
Matthew became the first player in NHL history to assist his brother on all three goals of a natural hat trick.
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In short, the Tkachuk brothers are on fire, and if they can carry the water for Florida – along with other Panthers like Sam Bennett, Sam Reinhart, and Seth Jones – while Brad Marchand and captain Aleksander Barkov are out with injuries, the Cats could be a dangerous team heading into the new year.
Florida Panthers’ Aleksander Barkov, right, celebrates his goal with Florida Panthers’ Matthew Tkachuk (19) as Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov (52) looks on during the third period of Game 2 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Eastern Conference finals in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, May 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker)
There’s still almost a full season of hockey to play, but there are plenty of Eastern Conference teams who will be looking under their beds at night now that Florida seems to have their mojo back.
