Ottawa Senators offer discounts if fans want to 'Chuk' those Tkachuk jerseys

The Ottawa Senators traded their captain to the Florida Panthers on June 21. Photo by Tony Caldwell /Postmedia

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And they don’t mean in the garbage.

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The Senators took to their social media accounts on Thursday to announce that, from Friday to Monday, those fans who have Tkachuk jerseys made by Fanatics can cash them in for a 40 per cent discount on new threads at the club’s souvenir shop at the Canadian Tire Centre.

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Calling it the “Chuk your Tkachuk” jersey promotion, the Senators are trying to give some of their faithful a break after the club’s former captain was dealt to the Florida Panthers on June 21 in exchange for three first-round draft picks and a second-round selection.

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Steve Staios, the club’s president of hockey operations and general manager, dealt the No. 9 pick he received from the Panthers in the deal, which will allow Brady to play with his brother, Matthew, to the San Jose Sharks for skilled winger William Eklund less than 48 hours after Tkachuk was traded.

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Tkachuk requested a trade, and though he gave the club a list of four destinations where he’d accept a deal, Staios stated publicly that Florida was the only option. It’s believed the Minnesota Wild made a better offer than the Panthers, but the Senators’ hands were tied.

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“It was clearly pointed at one team at the end. I feel comfortable with the return given the circumstances,” said Staios, who received the No. 9 and No. 25 overall selections in this year’s draft.

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The club used the No. 25 pick from the Panthers to pick Swedish forward Jonas Lagerberg Hoen.

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Allowing fans to exchange jerseys is a nice gesture, but the complaint on social media after the post went up was that there wouldn’t be a large supply of Tkachuk jerseys from Fanatics in the market.

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Kevin Lee, a longtime season-ticket holder and a strong supporter of the club, estimated that there won’t be many people who benefit from this. Lee, who is a jersey collector and raises funds for the Senators’ Community Foundation with a scramble golf tourney every summer, didn’t mind the idea.

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“I can appreciate the gesture, but this only applies to essentially the Fanatics pre-stitched Premium jerseys,” Lee wrote on X. “I can count on one hand the number I’ve seen in black/red, so for most fans, the only jersey that would qualify for this is the red alternate.”

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A lot of people in the comments were asking if they might be able to get the same discount applied to the Adidas version they have at home.

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Of course, that’s not the only option for your used Tkachuk jersey.

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The Ottawa Titans, who play professional baseball in the Frontier League, invited fans who attend their game on Monday, July 7, to the club’s “Forget Brady Day”.

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Fans will be offered the chance to turn in their No. 7 Tkachuk jerseys for a Titans jersey with the No. 7 of A.J. Wright.

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Both ideas sound better than having some unruly fans toss their jerseys on the ice when Tkachuk returns next season, as some did at the rink when Dany Heatley came back here on Dec. 2, 2010, with the San Jose Sharks after requesting a trade out of town.

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