Report: Senators Accuse Rangers of 'Soft Tampering'

The drama between the Ottawa Senators and New York Rangers continues to grow.

Jon Alfano | Dec 9, 2024

Dec 2, 2022; New York, New York, USA; Ottawa Senators left wing Brady Tkachuk (7) at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images / Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

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As the NHL Board of Governors meeting gets underway, there's some serious drama brewing between the Ottawa Senators and New York Rangers.

Amidst all the Jacob Trouba trade discussions last week, Larry Brooks of the New York Post claimed that the Rangers were targeting Senators captain Brady Tkachuk in a potential blockbuster trade. Many other sources denied the rumors, but not before they spread like wildfire.

Understandably, the Senators were not happy about how that saga unfolded. At the Board of Governors meeting in South Florida, Senators owner Michael Andlauer reportedly accused the Rangers of "soft tampering" and called for the league to crack down on such practices.

“Here’s my frustration: I talk about how I care for these players, and I care for their families — you make a commitment to a team for six, seven years, you set roots in the community, you’re part of this community, there’s a lot of pressure on these young men,” Andlauer said, per Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. “Yes, people might say they make millions of dollars, but the reality is there comes a responsibility with that.

“And when I see our captain, in the one year I’ve been here (as Senators owner), there’s been three separate occasions where there’s been fires we had to put out. I can tell you 100 percent there’s never actually been an ounce of discussion about Brady Tkachuk being anything other than an Ottawa Senator.”

Andlauer added that he's either upset with Brooks if the report was unfounded, or upset with whoever is giving him the idea that Tkachuk is available.

“Or he’s being fed false information and if indeed he’s being fed false information, or people are giving this information from another NHL organization, I don’t know — we just had a big memo about tampering from the NHL. I might consider that soft tampering,” Andlauer said.

The Athletic reached out to the Rangers for a comment on the situation, with a team spokesperson saying "This is an iresponsible accusation and we defer to the commissioner's office."

On the other side of the coin, the Senators made it very clear to their captain that they don't plan on moving on from him any time soon.

“There’s never been a conversation with any team about Brady,” Andlauer said..

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Published Dec 9, 2024

JON ALFANO