Sens owner: Rangers 'soft tampered' with Tkachuk

Ottawa Senators owner Michael Andlauer isn't happy with the way teams are handling their interest in captain Brady Tkachuk, he told The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun at the board of governors meeting in Florida on Monday.

Although he didn't mention the New York Rangers by name, Andlauer's frustration stems from a report by the New York Post's Larry Brooks that indicated the Rangers are very keen on the forward, according to LeBrun.

"If indeed (Brooks is) 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 told LeBrun.

"I cannot just sit and watch someone try and disrupt our organization using blatant misinformation without pushing back," he told the Ottawa Citizen's Bruce Garrioch.

The Senators haven't spoken to a single team about Tkachuk, the executive told LeBrun.

The Rangers refuted Andlauer's comments: "This is an irresponsible accusation, and we defer to the commissioner's office," the team said in a statement, according to Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli.

The current situation isn't the first time Andlauer has had to speak with Tkachuk to resolve a rumor.

"When I see our captain, in the one year I've been (Senators owner), there's been three separate occasions where there's been fires we had to put out," Andlauer told LeBrun. "I can tell you 100% there's never actually been an ounce of discussion about Brady Tkachuk being anything other than an Ottawa Senator."

Ottawa's owner intends to discuss the issue with commissioner Gary Bettman while in Florida this week.

Tkachuk has 13 goals, 29 points, and 50 penalty minutes in 27 games this season. The 25-year-old is signed through 2027-28 at an $8.2-million cap hit.