Rangers Deny Senators Owner's 'Irresponsible Accusation' of Brady Tkachuk Tampering

After Ottawa Senators owner Michael Andlauer accused the New York Rangers of tampering due to reports of targeting Senators captain Brady Tkachuk in a trade, the Rangers are firing back.

"This is an irresponsible accusation and we defer to the Commissioner's office," the Rangers said in a statement on Monday, per hockey insider Frank Seravalli.

Hockey Hall of Fame columnist Larry Brooks of the New York Post reported last week that the Rangers "have been in trade talks with multiple teams" and made Tkachuk "their primary target." While he didn't mention the Rangers specifically, it was clear that Andlauer didn't take kindly to the report while speaking to The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun.

"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 of Tkachuk. "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 believes either Brooks reported false information, "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."

Tkachuk has 13 goals and 16 assists in 27 games this season, so he would undoubtedly be an upgrade for the Rangers amid their inconsistent 14-11-1 start. However, it sounds like the Senators have closed the door on trading their 25-year-old captain, so the Rangers will have to explore other potential improvements as they try to make their fourth straight run to the playoffs.