Following the Kelce blueprint: Tkachuk brothers launch Wingmen (2025)
Photo courtesy of Dave Herholz/Flickr
On Nov. 13, 2025, brothers and National Hockey League (NHL) stars Brady and Matthew Tkachuk released the first episode of their newly-announced podcast, Wingmen (2025), making them the first active NHL players to host a podcast. Wingmen (2025) will bring fans inside their personal and professional lives, their relationship, and the stories they have never shared with traditional media.
They are set to release 40 episodes this year across all streaming platforms, making the show widely accessible to both die-hard hockey fans and casual listeners looking for personality-driven sports content. For the first few episodes, there will be no guests; it will truly be two brothers in front of a camera and microphones just talking.
In the trailer for the first episode, Brady described the show as “two brothers with one mic and absolutely no filter.” It is a fitting introduction for the Tkachuk brothers, who are two of the most notoriously polarizing players in the league—beloved by their teammates, hated by opponents and fans.
The idea for Wingmen (2025) was born after the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament, which provided fans with many highlight reel moments—many of them courtesy of the Tkachuks. To refresh your memory, the brothers who suited up for Team USA opened their game against Team Canada with three fights in just nine seconds.
Brady spoke on the creation of the podcast, saying, “People started talking to us about projects like this after the tournament. We didn't realize what great opportunities were available to us…We discussed it over the summer and finally realized that it was something we were interested in. So now it's done.”
The 4 Nations did not just forge the creation of Wingmen (2025); it also allowed the Tkachuks to be guests on one of, if not the best, professional athlete-hosted podcasts: New Heights (2022- ), hosted by brothers and professional National Football League (NFL) players Jason and Travis Kelce. Much like the Tkachuks, the Kelce brothers built their show around their natural chemistry, unfiltered humor, and the kind of behind-the-scenes storytelling that traditional sports media does not capture.
The Kelce brothers gained a tremendous amount of recognition after their respective teams faced off in Super Bowl 57, a matchup that quickly became known as the “Kelce Bowl.” Their rapid rise to mainstream popularity showed just how powerful athlete-driven media can be when it combines authenticity and star power.
Since launching in 2022, New Heights (2022- ) has become one of the most recognizable and successful podcasts available on streaming platforms. The brothers' Hall of Fame guests, as listed on the official website, include popstar and Travis’s fiancée, Taylor Swift, Jason’s wife, Kylie Kelce, Adam Sandler, and Lebron James. The combination of high-profile and multimedia guests with their electric charisma helped to expand the show from a sports podcast into a weekly pop culture event.
The Tkachuks’ podcast is sure to be entertaining and hopefully draw more audiences to the hockey world to grow the game for players and athletes alike. It will be exciting to see how this first season of Wingmen (2025) plays out, especially because they are the first to do something like this in the NHL, but I guess we will have to wait and see.
With the explosion of athlete-run podcasts and documentary series, professional athletes like the Tkachuks and Kelces are bypassing traditional sports media and taking control of their own narratives.