The Chicago Blackhawks are committed to a full rebuild, now that Kyle Davidson has taken over as general manager. He has said so on several occasions and proved his intentions by trading 23-year-old forward Brandon Hagel for a haul of assets. Franchise icons like Jonathan Toews have openly wondered about what that means for their future with the organization, as a complete tear-down appears to be on the way.
You might think that a 24-year-old who just scored 41 goals for the second time in his career might be safe, but apparently, you’d be wrong. Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff writes that the question is now “when” Alex DeBrincat will be traded, not “if,” and lists him at the very top of his trade target board. Scott Powers and Shayna Goldman of The Athletic also examine this possibility, with one source telling them they “doubt DeBrincat is with the team through next season” and that the young sniper will either be traded this summer or at the 2023 deadline.
Notably, this is likely about money more than anything else. Because of the way DeBrincat’s current contract is structured, he is owed $9MM in salary this season, despite his cap hit being just $6.4MM. That means he’ll also be due a $9MM qualifying offer at the end of the 2022-23 season in order to retain his rights, and is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2024.
If the Blackhawks wanted to extend him then, it would be at an extremely high price, one that doesn’t really make sense for a rebuilding club. The team isn’t expected to be competitive for a few years at least, which would mean any long-term deal for DeBrincat would be paying top dollar without taking advantage of his best years.
Still, it’s hard to wrap your head around a trade that includes such a young, star player. Make no mistake, DeBrincat is one of the most dangerous and consistent goal scorers in the entire league, even if his production has been overshadowed by the struggles in Chicago. Since he entered the league in 2017, only seven players have scored more than his 160 goals. He only turned 24 in December, meaning he’ll play a good chunk of next season at that age, and he has rarely missed games due to injury, suiting up for all 82 in three of his five years.
This is a player that every single team in the league could use, though the price tag attached to an extension would rule several out. Still, that might be what would intrigue Davidson and the Blackhawks so much, knowing the absolute haul they could bring back for a player like DeBrincat.
Toews game has dropped off dramatically In the last two seasons and all he does now Is complain, He should be grateful that he has 3 rings and just go away.
There is no denying his game has dropped off dramatically and he is not the player he once was. I hope he is grateful to the hockey gods for the opportunity that he had to be surrounded by as much talent as he was between 2010 and 2015. Not every player is so lucky. I know I’m grateful for getting to watch him and those teams here in Chicago. He does more than just complain though. He works his butt off, and he competes every shift. It’s just not there for him anymore.
Part of the snarling over Toews, though, is frankly the salary. He was handed a gross overpayment, superstar/Hall of Famer money, and he’s NEVER been that player — in 14 years he’s never once reached as much as a point-per-game in a full season. Him getting paid several million a year more than he’s ever been worth has had a material impact on the ongoing carousel of salary dumps the Hawks have been forced to do: the year he signed that contract was the offseason, for instance, where Chicago had to dump Brandon Saad and Kris Versteeg for 10 cents on the dollar.
That was barely tolerable while Toews was still a useful player in the playoffs — badly overpaid, but still. Now he’s just a battered third-liner aged beyond his years.
DeBank-it should go to NJ for #2 OA, Sharangovich and Bahl. What a kick-start for the re-build!
Kaner will ask to be traded shortly after. Toews is untradeable, unless he is packaged with Kaner and both have half their salary retained.
If I’m NJ, I just draft Slaf at 2 OA and size up. They’re not competing for a couple more years and DeBrincat in the playoffs might not perform as well as DeBrincat in the reg season just based on size/physicality.
I think that’s a pretty fair offer though.
2OA could be used to nab a guy like Pastrnak if the Bruins decide to go that route.
Devils with another $9 million player?
Unless a long term extension can be worked out I wouldn’t do that trade.
When Chicago gets 2 OA, they draft Cooley! This guy has a ceiling of being a #1C!!!! Put that with another goal scorer like Sharangovich and a big soon to be shut down defender like Bahl and you reduce your rebuilding time substantially! Can’t ask for much more than that!
Kaner and Capt Serious don’t need to ask for a trade. They can go the UFA route, leaving the B’Hawks with nothing in return. On the bright side, it’s possible that they would accept an offer of, say, 8-9 mil for Kaner and 5 mil for Toews. Kane will probably play into his 40″s.
There’s no telling how much of his former self Toews will recover, but I”d give him a one or two year contract to see. Perhaps load it with incentives in case he does bounce back. In any event, he’s still a great captain amd leader and worth having around for a couple years.
Still not sure trading the Cat is a great move, considering in the last 5 drafts only one first round pick is with the team – Dach. And we all know how well that’s working out. But I agree, they could get a huge haul for the Cat, but it would be with fingers crossed.
You’re right. Trading star players for prospects is especially risky if the team’s talent evaluators aren’t very good at identifying talent. There’s a reason this team lacks talent. The evaluators are more often wrong than right. So the solution? Trade good young players like Hagel and the Cat for prospects, and then hope that a couple of those prospects turn out to be as good as . . . Hagel and the Cat!
I suppose it all has to do with how long a rebuild they’re contemplating. If the Blackhawks expect to be in the toilet for the next five years, then sure, trading DeBrincat makes sense. Anything short doesn’t.
What the FANBASE might have to say about committing to long term disaster is another matter.
I thought stupid Stan Bo was fired
This team isn’t going to be good again for a LONG time.
Rangers could use a scorer like debrincat.
We can offer Kravtsov, Robertson, Chytil, Nils plus picks. Chicago may need to add Dach for a bigger deal. We could add Kakko at that point.
We don’t need players yet….just #1 and #2 draft picks please.
I covet NJ’s #2 OA. I wonder if we could get their #2 picks next year and the y;ear after along with it for the Cat.
Depends on how much they want him I guess.
Other than that trade, I think Chicago should stand pat until the trade deadline. Teams in the top eight tend to get Cup-happy, you can extract the maximum for quality players.