After recently reporting that the Ottawa Senators were open to all options with all-star forward, Alex DeBrincat, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports that the Senators are now fully examining the trade market for the young forward. A restricted free agent this offseason, DeBrincat is due a $9MM qualifying offer, a number that few teams are going to be able to absorb.
On the first day of last year’s draft, the Senators acquired DeBrincat from the Chicago Blackhawks for a package including the seventh overall pick, the 39th overall pick, and the Senators’ third-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft. Just after earning a 40-goal season with Chicago, Ottawa was hoping that DeBrincat would be the jolt of offense the team needed to get back to the playoffs.
Although starting off slow in Canada’s capital, DeBrincat finished the 2022-23 season with respectable numbers for his standards. In 82 games played, DeBrincat scored 27 goals and 39 assists, also providing the Senators with 109 hits, showing off a lot of physicality.
Ottawa has shown quite a bit of interest in signing DeBrincat to a long-term extension, but he has shown little to no inclination to sign a deal to remain with the Senators, as the team is now going through a change in ownership. Understandably, with the ownership of the team still in doubt, DeBrincat is wary of sticking around long-term in that situation.
For teams that have the cap space available, and should be in a position to be a consistent playoff contender in the near future, look towards two Atlantic-division rivals for the Senators, the Buffalo Sabres and Detroit Red Wings. This season, Buffalo was much closer to the playoffs than the Red Wings, and still has a long-term extension to work out with stud defenseman, Rasmus Dahlin. Nevertheless, DeBrincat would surely make the Sabres’ offense almost impossible to defend against, and with the cap space reportedly growing after next season, they would be able to fit DeBrincat into the long-term outlook.
For Detroit, DeBrincat makes perfect sense as the big-name acquisition that fans have been waiting on for years. Growing up in Farmington Hills, MI, DeBrincat gives the team a right-handed shooting forward that carries high-octane offense, something that the team has been missing for quite some time. As the Red Wings’ depth of prospects make the jump to the NHL over the next several seasons, Detroit has the cap space available to them to make DeBrincat a big part of their future.
Detroit sez NO! (I hope) Too expensive! If he would sign for around $7M AAV, then OK. (very doubtful)
Get Timo or Bratt instead of the Cat!
Timo and Bratt are staying in Jersey
the sens are willing to move Debrincat, not sure the devil’s are willing to move Timo or Bratt so to get them you will be paying up big time.
9 million is alot for a little guy who will get hurt before long.
9 million for smallish winger that may or may not be a 25 G scorer instead of 40 going forward. No thanks. 6.5-7 maybe but I’m not attaching much term with it.
Boeser similar a few years ago and look how that turned out
boeser is not a fair comparison. he’s never played a full season and has never eclipsed 30.
Thing is, DeBrincat doesn’t HAVE to take $7 MM if he doesn’t want to do so. The qualifying offer is $9 MM, and that’s that. He’s entitled to accept less only as a result of a long-term extension. So it’s either one year at $9 MM and then he’s an unrestricted free agent — and whatever Ottawa will demand in trade assets will make that unpalatable — or it’s north of $7 MM and five or six years. Take your pick.
But consider this: some of you who think that DeBrincat’s a bad bargain for a long term deal were perfectly fine with Montreal handing out just short of 8×8 to Cole Caulfield, a guy who doesn’t have DeBrincat’s scoring resume, a guy who’s even smaller, and a guy who already has an injury history (where DeBrincat’s missed all of four games over six seasons). What gives, here? You’d think a durable, proven 30+ goal scorer who plays much better defense would be a better bet … wouldn’t you?
thank you. someone who speaks some sense. all the arm chair gms here seem to think he is overpaid. he’s likely going to get around 8-8.25 per season which actually is a deal compare to caufield’s deal, and this for a guy who has put up at least 27 in 5 of 6 seasons.
anyone who cheers for Detroit who says they don’t want him must love being in the basement as this is the guy (and near hometown) boy they can market around.
OK, you convinced me to move up from $7M AAV to something close to $8M AAV. He has a longer track record than Caulfield, and can score if he has a set-up guy on his line. Dunno if Detroit has the right support for the Cat.
they have tons of cap space to use, tons of draft picks they can use. it’s really a matter of how quick Stevie Y wants to compete as he has the resources to turn the team into a playoff contender fairly quick.
Beyond that, they’re pretty much in the same boat as Buffalo: a team that has to have the APPEARANCE of trying their best to compete, at this point. Another year of “rebuilding” is going to sour the fan base. Getting DeBrincat sends the same message Ottawa was trying to send in acquiring him in the first place: we want to make the playoffs and we’re getting the tools to do that.
Which teams would make a good fit for Ottawa?
I don’t see NJ. Arizona maybe but do they want to commit a long term contract with their current situation? Buffalo has a lot of forward prospects in their pipeline. It is looking like Ottawa will have to take back at least 1 bad contract (Possibly 2).
I wonder if some sort of framework of
Debrincat and Forsberg for Zadina, Husso and a 1st would work.
Ottawa’s too goalie-strapped to dare to move Forsberg.
Nothing wrong with paying $9M per year to a 25 year old who proved to be a good goal scorer. So if extension talks don’t go smoothly between the Sens and DeBrincat, it has to be about term as well. Maybe he doesn’t see his long term future in Ottawa. See Matthew Tkachuk. In that case better trade him.
NO! The Cat is not worth that. If so, the Sens can keep him!
Bro scored 66 points in a supposed down season. I would gladly take that production on my team.