As the 2023-2024 NHL regular season slowly comes to a close, many fans will remember it for the drama currently happening in the playoffs, the plethora of new talent that entered and the family ties within the league.
With that, let’s start with a statistic.
There were 20 sets of brothers who played in the NHL this season.
You know how they call Philadelphia, the “City of Brotherly Love?” With those numbers, it’s safe to say that the NHL is the “League of Brotherly Love.”
For this edition of the Puck Drop, I’ll highlight some of these brothers and how they’ve been impacting the league.
Matthew and Brady Tkachuk
Sons of NHL player Keith Tkachuk, Matthew and Brady have both made waves in their time in the NHL.
Matthew, a forward and alternate captain of the Florida Panthers, has helped lead his team to playoff contention. The 26-year-old has notched 25 goals and 55 assists on the season, second on the team behind Sam Reinhart with the most points.
On the other hand, his brother Brady, 24-year-old forward and captain of the Ottawa Senators, is also second on the team in points with 68, behind Tim Stuztle. Even though the Senators aren’t in playoff contention this year, Brady is still regarded as an elite player around the league.
Both brothers have been known to take after their dad and throw some punches around, bringing a very physical aspect of their game.
“We are each other’s biggest fan…When we play against each other now, especially [being] in the same division, we have to beat each other, our teams have to win. It creates that healthy competition. It’s a very good relationship the two of us have.”
Matthew Tkachuk said in an interview with NHL.com as the Panthers were set to play against the Senators in November.
Jack, Luke and Quinn Hughes
Sons of Jim and legendary women’s hockey player, Ellen Hughes, these brothers are
the only group of three brothers in the league. What makes it even better? Jack and Luke both play for the New Jersey Devils.
“I think he had a louder (cheer) than I did when they (announced) Luke Hughes was starting…I see where I rank.” Jack joked after his brother’s NHL debut last season. Jack and Luke are both taking the Devils by storms and dominating the ice. This past week Luke has been on a seven-game point streak, which is the most of any rookie this year. Quinn, the oldest of the three and captain defenseman of the Vancouver Canucks, has led his team to the playoffs with 86 points.
These sets of brothers have not even reached their late 20s, so the future of the NHL looks promising with these special players from these hockey-rooted families at the forefront of the league’s offense.