Keith Tkachuk implores the Senators to do the right thing with Mark Stone.

It seems the Ottawa Senators may be feeling some added pressure all of a sudden and that pressure is coming from a voice that carries a lot of weight in the National Hockey League.

As any fan who has been interested in the happenings around the trade deadline for the 2018 - 2019 NHL regular season will know, the Ottawa Senators have arguably been the major story ahead of the deadline this season. Not only have the Senators already made two major trades dealing both star center Matt Duchene and winger Ryan Dzingel to the Columbus Blue Jackets, a pair of trades that have suddenly made Columbus a major threat in the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs, but they also have yet to make a decision surrounding the future of star forward Mark Stone.

Stone is arguably the biggest praise up for grabs on the Senators roster but there is still some talk that the Senators will try and sign the goal scoring winger to a long term deal before the deadline. There is of course the question of whether or not Stone himself is interested in such a deal and if he doesn't a trade will be the only option. That being said there is one person surprisingly advocating for the Senators to find a way to get this deal done, and that is former NHL star Keith Tkachuk.

"I want that Mark Stone signed so badly," said the patriarch of the Tkachuk family during the pre game broadcast. 

You might be wondering why Tkachuk would care at all about Stone getting a deal done with the Senators, and that's more than fair. That being said though it appears that, according to Keith's own words, Stone has had a major impact on his sons career in the NHL. When you consider that Keith's son Brady Tkachuk is a rookie in this league you can easily see why a father would want a strong mentorship figure like Stone to remain within the organization.

"He’s been so instrumental to Brady’s development both on and off the ice," added the NHL veteran.

The Stone remaining in Ottawa bandwagon apparently has one very powerful voice on it' side. 

"The Senators have to figure out a way and get this done."

[pub]