If you're an Ottawa Senators fan, player, management or ownership member, this hasn't been the most enjoyable spring and summer.
In the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Senators got swept by the eventual Cup-champion Carolina Hurricanes. Not long afterward, Ottawa's captain, Brady Tkachuk, pulled the chute on the Sens organization, engineering his way out of Ottawa via a trade to the Florida Panthers.
However, at least one Senators player – defenseman Jordan Spence – believes the Senators will be better next season without Tkachuk on their team.
"We really do believe that we have a good team when we play our game and play to our identity," Spence told the Coming In Hot podcast on Tuesday. "Whenever a guy like (Tkachuk) leaves, it does hurt. Maybe there's other reasons why he wanted to leave, but there's also other reasons (like) maybe not having the belief that we all have as a team.
Regardless of whether the Senators are angered with or upset by Tkachuk's departure, there's plenty of reason to believe it will be a rallying point.
The Sens shouldn't just forget about Tkachuk. His bail-out job should be a rallying point that emotionally charges Senators players.
And there's a recent history of teams playing well immediately after parting ways with their captain and/or star player.
For example, the New York Islanders enjoyed a lot of success after star center and captain John Tavares left for the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2018.
After failing to make the playoffs in Tavares' final two seasons on Long Island, the Isles not only made the playoffs in the next three seasons but advanced past the first round each time, even making the third round in 2020 and 2021.
Tavares was definitely missed in some regards, but Islanders players rallied around each other. While they haven't won a Cup in the post-Tavares Era, losing him wasn't the worst-case scenario some originally thought would materialize.
Meanwhile, although former Boston Bruins captain Brad Marchand was only traded to the Panthers in the final year of his contract and didn't really betray the team, Boston improved by 24 points this past season in their first full year without Marchand. So it's entirely possible that Tkachuk's departure in Ottawa will lead to a strong playoff push in 2026-27.
Now, it's not always true that a captain and/or star player's departure will turn out to be a positive thing for a franchise. The Calgary Flames took a clear step backward after they traded Matthew Tkachuk to the Panthers in 2022. And the Maple Leafs took a step backward last season – their first year without star right winger Mitch Marner.
But emotionally speaking, based on Spence's podcast interview, there definitely could be an emotional spark for the Sens at the start of their post-Tkachuk Era.
"When it comes down to it, I think that it's going to make us better," Spence said of Tkachuk's departure. "It's a big loss, but, you know, we've got to move on, and we still have a great team, and we're really excited for what's ahead.
Even Senators coach Travis Green said he was a little bit surprised and mad about Tkachuk's request when speaking to 100% Hockey With Millard & Shannon earlier this week. But he said he's moving on.
"We've lost a good player," Green said. "We've gained a couple of good players. Obviously, a real good young player in (William) Eklund.
And I've got a lot of faith in our group. I still think we're improving.
Certainly, Spence came off as confident that this change will be for the better in Canada's capital. And while Spence could be focusing only on the optics of the situation, his words should be heartening to Senators fans who desperately need something to believe in heading into training camp.