Tkachuk gets big assist from family entering 2018 NHL Draft

Brady Tkachuk won't soon forget the days of roller hockey on the driveway in front of his St. Louis home with his two siblings.
The games usually pitted Brady and younger sister Taryn against their older brother, Matthew. They were intense, competitive and, as it turns out, destructive.

Just ask their mother, Chantal, who was usually the one phoning a repairman to replace the living room windows.
"One time they shattered the window and after it was replaced, the kids had broken it again by that afternoon," she said. "That was probably the fourth or fifth time it happened and that's when I put my foot down. I told them no more hockey until we do something about this."
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She demanded that her husband, U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame forward Keith Tkachuk, resolve the problem.
"We had a big driveway area that was in front of the living room where I used to watch television," Keith said. "One day I'm sitting there watching TV and a puck comes flying at the window and shatters everything. I ended up talking to the guys on the [St. Louis] Blues ice crew from [Scottrade Center] to come out and install Plexiglas in place of the living room windows."
There have since been no reported incidents.

"The two things that would get Mom the most upset when we played roller hockey were breaking windows and skating inside the house because we'd make marks on the floor," Brady said. "We'd have to go on our hands and knees to clean the floors after that."
Yes, the Tkachuks love hockey and seemingly will go to any measures to make sure the game is a prominent part of their lives. And a third Tkachuk figures to soon be making it a career.
Keith, 46, the No. 19 pick in the 1990 NHL Draft by the Winnipeg Jets, played 18 NHL seasons before retiring in 2010.
Matthew, 20, chosen No. 6 in the 2016 NHL Draft by the Calgary Flames, has 97 points (37 goals, 60 assists) and 166 penalty minutes in 144 NHL games in two seasons.
Brady, 18, of Boston University in Hockey East, is next on the Tkachuk depth chart. He's expected to be among the top five picks in the 2018 NHL Draft at American Airlines Center in Dallas on June 22-23; he is No. 2 on NHL Central Scouting's final list of North American skaters eligible for the draft.
But Brady has an advantage that the other prospects don't have, and his father and brother lacked too: the benefit of having two NHL mentors in his family beside him every step of the way, helping to shape his game.
Tod Button, the Flames director of amateur scouting for the past 18 years, said that though he sees nothing that differentiates Brady (6-foot-3, 196 pounds) from his father and brother on the ice, there is something that separates him from most other players in the 2018 draft.
"He's unique to this draft in terms of the way the game is played now," Button said. "Brady is a rarity in today's game because you just don't see a lot of great power forwards any more. He can play that rough-and-tumble style, and still be productive. Those players are still very valuable today."
And Brady became that type of player by taking after his father and brother.

Fatherly advice

Brady studies as much video as possible of Keith.
The family patriarch played one season at Boston University before being drafted. He played for the Jets, Phoenix Coyotes, Blues and Atlanta Thrashers, and ranks second in goals (538) and fourth in points (1,065) among United States-born players. He played nine seasons (2000-10) with the Blues before retiring.
"I know he made a living in front of the net, he was always screening and tipping almost every puck that came to him," Brady said of his dad, who was listed at 6-2, 235. "He loved this one move and I worked on it growing up."
It's a maneuver Brady tries to emulate often and can execute well.

"You come down on the left side, and it's like a 1-on-1, so you fake like you're going to toe-drag, and then push it back outside and keep the legs moving so the defenseman usually baits to either the toe drag or shot," Brady said. "It allowed my dad to go wide and he loved that. I try and use that one as much as I can."
Beyond that move, Keith has other techniques and tips to share with Brady, though he said he prefers to give advice to his sons only when asked.
"It's those small areas and how to retrieve and come out of the corner with the puck that Brady can pick up from my game and transfer it to today's game," Keith said. "It's important to use your body to shield it and take pucks to the net because I tell the boys that's your bread and butter. That's how you're going to make it. Be a play-inside-the-dots kind of guy."
When told of Brady's desire to attempt his trademark move skating down the wing, Keith chuckled.
"To me it's more around the net where all three of us thrive," he said. "It's hard to score goals far out because the goalies are a lot better nowadays. You have to find ways to bring something that's different and in a positive way. With his size and strength, Brady can be effective down low in those areas."
The position of choice for Keith, Matthew and Brady is left wing. Brady played center in the early stages of his career but was moved to left wing when he began playing for USA Hockey's National Team Development Program in 2015-16.
"As left wing, I'm kind of taking the pass away from the corner to the defense while being in a position where the forward can't curl up and go to the net," said Brady. "In the defensive zone, when the puck is rimmed, it's my job to get it out so that's probably the biggest difference between playing left wing and center."

Brotherly love

Keith said there are more similarities than differences between Brady and Matthew (6-2, 202).
"They both compete at a high level and not just the first effort, but the second and third efforts are very similar," he said. "I think what separates Brady is his skating and he's still in that goofy, gangly stage too. He's not even close to being a finished product, and that's what's intriguing to me. What's he going to look like when he's 25 years old?"

Many were surprised to see Matthew remain on the Flames roster four months after being selected in the 2016 draft.
He was coming off a banner season, with 107 points (30 goals, 77 assists) in 57 regular-season games with London of the Ontario Hockey League. He had 40 points (20 goals, 20 assists) in 18 playoff games to help London win the OHL championship, then scored five goals in four games, including the overtime winner, to help it win the Memorial Cup.
Button said there were two things that made Matthew the logical choice for Calgary in the first round of the 2016 draft.
"It was a combination of skill and physicality and we saw him as a versatile player that could play multiple positions," Button said. "He wasn't locked in at left wing so we could move him to right wing if we needed to in a pinch because he was so smart."
Brady has those same traits.
"I knew he had a good chance because [the Flames] were looking for a physical offensive player and that's his style," Brady said of his brother earning a roster spot in 2016. "He was really confident and believed he could do it and he worked so hard to get that spot. I was so proud of him for that."
Does Brady feel he could follow a similar path to the NHL?
"One of my biggest goals is trying to make an NHL roster come October," he said. "It's something I'm working toward and something I've worked for my whole life. If it happens, it happens, but if the team wants me to go back for another year at BU and keep working on my game, it's another year of development and that's great, too."
Keith said it can't be stressed enough how important it has been for Brady to watch Matthew mature into the NHL player he is today.
"You know how kids are?" Keith said. "They can relate well to other kids. It was good having those two growing up because they went at it all the time."

Matthew taught Brady the importance of playing tough by being tough on him.
"A huge part of our childhood together was learning how to compete against each other because we both wanted to win and have bragging rights," Brady said. "I know I never really won when I was younger, it was always Matthew, and him kind of shoving it in my face. All that physicality from that young age kind of stuck with me and now that I'm a little taller than Matthew, I don't think he wants to mess with me as much anymore."
Matthew is still irritating others on the ice, however. Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty said in January that he was pretty sure Matthew was the most disliked player in the NHL.
"That's kind of funny," Brady said. "Just knowing Matt and seeing all these different views that people have of him ... he's a great guy to be around and has been an awesome brother to me.
"I know some people don't like him but it's a style we both play. We don't really care what other people think. If you don't like how we play, you're just going to have to deal with it because we're not going to change."

Brady's moment

A turning point for Tkachuk this season may have come Dec. 29, when he scored for the United States in regulation and a shootout during a 4-3 preliminary-round win against Canada in the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship at New Era Field in Buffalo.
"Brady plays only one way: hard and heavy," U.S. National Junior Team coach Bob Motzko said. "It's pretty special how that kid works. He wanted to go in the shootout. There are some players who would be nervous but if I didn't call Brady's name, I think he would have jumped out, grabbed a puck and said, 'I'm going Coach.'
"It takes some [guts] to do that. He wanted the moment."
Jim Johannson, the general manager of the national junior team at the WJC who died Jan. 21 at the age of 53, provided great insight into Brady's self-assessment at that stage of his development.
"From the outside, people look at stats and think that's the player, but that's not the player," Johansson said in December during a WJC practice. "I talked about how self-assessment is a real important aspect of player development and I think Brady's self-assessment is excellent but it's excellent in two perspectives.
"One, he knows what he's good at and, two, knows the areas in which he can get even better."
Tkachuk finished third on the bronze medal-winning U.S. team with nine points (three goals, six assists) in seven games. Matthew won a bronze with the United States at the 2016 WJC, as did Keith at the 1992 tournament.

Tkachuk 3.0

Brady's game is reminiscent of those of his father and brother, but he has his unique qualities too.
"Brady is my most thoughtful, good-natured kid, but then he gets on the ice, he's a complete lunatic," Keith said. "I guess it's good in a way."
Chantal said she believes Brady has a sense of fearlessness, unlike the rest of the family.
"Brady goes zero-to-100. He had zero fear," Chantal said. "A lot of that was just from probably playing and having an older brother in Matthew who really pushed him. He was always fearless. He'd get right in there even when he played [against players one year old than him]. He was never afraid of anything."

Such was the case when a 10-year-old Brady took offense to a hit delivered to his linemate, current NHL forward prospect Logan Brown, when playing for the St. Louis Junior Blues Peewee AAA team.
Brown, selected by the Ottawa Senators with the No. 11 pick in the 2016 NHL Draft, recalls the moment well.
"For the longest time when we played, Brady was always the 'young guy' among us friends," said Brown, 20. "(In St. Louis), when he played up one year, someone cross-checked me from behind and he dropped his gloves, went after the guy, tackled him and took him to the ground.
"He was the young guy I was supposed to be taking care of, but Brady has always kind of been like that. He plays one way: tough. He'll get to the net and it doesn't matter what he needs to go through to get there."
Minnesota Wild forward Jordan Greenway (6-6, 226), a teammate of Brady's at Boston University, said he witnessed the same thing in just about every game this season.
"Even though I'm a little bigger than him, a lot of the times he was the guy going up to the opposing players and saying, 'Don't mess with him,'" Greenway said. "He had no problem getting in someone's face and trying to intimidate. Brady was someone you definitely want to be playing with and not against."
David Quinn, who coached BU for five seasons before being hired as coach by the New York Rangers on May 23, said he liked the way Tkachuk managed his game as a freshman this season.
Tkachuk, named to the Hockey East All-Rookie Team, finished fourth on BU with 31 points (eight goals, 23 assists), and first in assists and shots on goal (131). But Quinn said Tkachuk's impact can't be measured only by numbers.
"One of the things we talked about was when the whistle blew and we were in the offensive zone and he was on the ice, if there wasn't a scrum at the net front, he didn't do his job," Quinn said. "We wanted to get to the net, and when you do that you tend to (upset) people, and that's what happens with him out there."
Quinn also said Tkachuk did well despite going up against older players who knew he was projected to be a high draft pick.
"Guys tested the bravado of Tkachuk and Greenway throughout the game by taking runs at them because of their size and notoriety," Quinn said.
Brady opted for college instead of the Canadian Hockey League, the path taken by his brother, because of the older, more physically developed competition he'd be facing.
"Playing against 23-year-old players was a lot different, but I got used to it over time," he said. "Instead of just using my body all the time in some of the battles, I think I had to use my brain a little more to outthink them. That might have been biggest thing."

One of a kind

Forward Andrei Svechnikov (6-2, 188) is ahead of Brady atop NHL Central Scouting's final list of North American skaters. Button said the difference between the two is that Brady "is a little more rambunctious. Svechnikov doesn't have that physicality, but he can't be outmuscled physically, either. He's strong, so if you try and get physical with him he just knocks you over.
"Brady's physicality is more in his nature. I don't think you can tell him to calm down, that's just who he is and how he plays. Svechnikov is more calculated in his physical play."
At a time when NHL teams seek skilled, elusive and agile skaters for a better transition up ice, hard-nosed power forwards are not so prevalent.
"If you look back at the era when Keith played, power forwards dominated," Button said. "You had guys like Keith, Brendan Shanahan, Billy Guerin; that was an impressive group. I think it's rare to see that type of player today but Brady brings that element, and then some."
Brady may be known for that element, but his skill is overlooked, said Quinn, who pointed to his team's success with Brady moving from the slot to an unfamiliar role on the power play.
"This guy makes plays and has a great head for the game," Quinn said. "When we put him on the half-wall on the power play I think we were [converting at] over 30 percent and I attribute a lot of that to him because he's smart, moves the puck quick and has a great feel for the game."
Keith smiled when the discussion shifted to Brady's game along the half-wall.
"The Tkachuks aren't used to that space. It's foreign to our last name," he said. "But Brady adjusted well to it. I think his playmaking ability over the last year or two has really improved. It was surprising to me to see him on the half-wall given his size, strength and kind of that bull-in-a-china-shop attitude. But it's nice to see him start adding more qualities to his game instead of just being regarded as north-south player."

Brady has relished those new opportunities and taken full advantage.
"I'm always around the net on power plays and [at] 5-on-5 so to get that different perspective on the half-wall, you see more options," he said. "It was the first time I ever did it, and it's important to keep moving the puck when I get it to find an option."
Brady seems more prepared for the next stage of his career than his brother was. He's taken bits and pieces from his family and appears mature and polished entering the NHL Draft.
"In a sense he does just because he's benefitting from having Matthew go through it a couple years ago," Chantal said. "He has learned so much through the process, so I think he's better prepared in some ways. Obviously, what is meant to be, is meant to be, but mentally he probably is going into it more knowledgeable than Matthew was."
Brady said it would be great to be a top-three draft pick but realizes nothing is guaranteed. He may have a boyish smile, but he already carries himself as a professional.
"At the end of the day," he said, "it's whatever the team wants in a player."
And the team that drafts him will have a good idea of what it is getting. After all, he's a Tkachuk.