NHL insider Jeff O’Neill has shared his — strong — opinion on the backlash Brady Tkachuk has faced over his trade from the Ottawa Senators to the Florida Panthers.
“There’s no loyalty in professional sports at all. There isn’t,” he said on the OverDrive podcast.
After eight seasons — five of them as team captain — it was announced on Sunday that Brady Tkachuk had been traded to the Florida Panthers.
READ MORE: Brady Tkachuk called out by fans after Panthers trade
Brady Tkachuk traded to the Panthers
In Florida, Brady Tkachuk will join his brother, Matthew Tkachuk. Together, they also host the Wingmen podcast. It was Brady who asked Senators general manager Steve Staios for a trade.
“For me, I could clearly see that Brady was a bit of a different player than he was a year before. So, I was probably not overly surprised at that point,” Staios said at a press conference on Monday.
NHL insider shares his take
Brady has received a lot of criticism for the way he handled the trade, especially after saying in late April that he wanted to stay and win in Ottawa. On TSN’s OverDrive podcast, the panel discussed the trade, and NHL insider Jeff O’Neill shared his take.
“I don’t like the fact that he went there and said, ‘I don’t know where that’s coming from. It never came from my mouth.’
But people have to understand one thing. Like this one guy who sent me a message on Twitter saying, ‘I hope you rip Brady Tkachuk today for what happened with him going to the Florida Panthers,’” O’Neill said.
He then continued:
“Well, what happens if Steve Staios and the organization wanted another player for Brady Tkachuk and they said, ‘Brady, you’re out and we’re bringing in David Pastrnak’? Would the same guy say to me, ‘You better rip Steve Staios for what he did?’” O’Neill said.
READ MORE: NHL insider says Brady Tkachuk became a locker-room distraction
With that said, he laid out one harsh truth about professional sports.
“There’s no loyalty in professional sports at all. There isn’t. If there’s an upgrade or something else available to an organization, they’re going to pull the trigger on it. There’s no loyalty either way. You’re just a piece of meat to the organization. Teams would get rid of you in a second, and players would say, ‘You know what? I’m not into this.’ And I don’t blame them for that,” O’Neill said.
You can watch the video below.
READ MORE: Chris Pronger’s honest take on the Brady Tkachuk trade
