Some quick thoughts on Alex DeBrincat to Detroit
The Red Wings landed the scoring winger they were looking for.
The Detroit Red Wings landed Alex DeBrincat and signed him to a four-year contract extension with an annual cap hit of $7,875,000 on Sunday.
In return the Ottawa Senators received Dominik Kubalík, prospect defenceman Donovan Sebrango, a conditional 2024 first-round draft pick and Detroit's 2024 fourth-round selection.
From Detroit’s perspective, it’s incredible work.
The Red Wings landed the potential scoring winger they needed, brought him at market value, and avoided overpaying on term with a four-year deal.
In the process Detroit gave up a forward that was going to be a UFA next summer, and not part of the long-term plan, and a prospect that, in my view, could play in the NHL, but isn’t much more than a depth defenseman on a good team.
Steve Yzerman can take a victory lap after this one, it’s a big win.
But the thing I keep coming back to with this deal centers on DeBrincat and the Senators.
Why would the Senators make this deal and why would DeBrincat sign that type extension?
Ottawa had filed for arbitration with DeBrincat and were protected from an offer sheet, if they hadn’t worked out a long-term deal he’d play in Ottawa this season as a pending UFA and would have been one of the biggest prizes at the trade deadline.
By simply completing the arbitration case and forcing DeBrincat to play it out, the Senators likely could have netted a larger return in late January or early February of the upcoming season.
Sure it might have been awkward, but in general, Ottawa gave up on potential assets that would have at least been equal to the package Detroit gave today in early July.
For DeBrincat, I understand the appeal of returning to play in his home state, but I don’t understand the four-year deal and the economics of passing up on capitalizing on the cap finally rising in two seasons.
DeBrincat, in theory, could have also played himself into a larger payday with a one-year deal with Ottawa. If his finishing normalizes, which I think it will, he’d be 35 goal scorer again, and he likely would have been traded at the deadline to an actual contender, played Stanley Cup playoff games and gotten the playoff bump as a UFA.
In Detroit he makes the Red Wings closer to a playoff team, but it’s still a far cry from any certainty that he will see the postseason in Detroit this coming season or the next.
DeBrincat and Ottawa both had opportunities, with patience, to turn their divorce into more of an economic victory. The Senators with deadline-forced assets, DeBrincat with a chance to actually play for a contender at the deadline and then better approach the UFA market in the coming seasons.
Instead the Red Wings profited.
It’s a good day for Detroit, if the Yzerplan does work, they’ll sing songs about this trade.
But for the other parties involved, why did this deal happen?