Senators in Ottawa got their hands on Alex DeBrinkat In a trade with the Chicago Blackhawks, hours before the first round of the 2022 Upper Deck Draft.
In exchange for the striker, the Black Hawks have a seventh-place finish in the 2022 draft, a second-round senators’ selection (39th overall) and a third-round pick in 2024.
” Alex DeBrinkat It was our first goal, without a doubt. For us, he is a player who brings character, who is able to count and who wants to win.
“He knows we are a team on the rise, a growing team. He was very happy to join us.”
Debrenkat has 78 points, including 41 goals, in 82 games this season. The 24-year-old winger has one more season ahead on a three-year contract worth $19.2 million ($6.4 million annual average) signed on October 3, 2019.
Dorion has yet to speak to the DeBrincat’s agent, who will be able to become a restricted free agent at the end of his contract, but he hopes to be able to get along with his new striker in the long-term.
Debrincat will be eligible for a contract extension from July 13th.
In Ottawa, DeBrincat will be led by coach DJ Smith, who he encountered in the junior ranks. Dorion said Smith has brought up the possibility of pairing the DeBrincat with Tim Stützle.
Dorion said: “The DJ tells us that in addition to his ability to score goals, he has in his opinion a sense of the game that is completely out of the ordinary. He is able to play games in confined spaces.”
With this trade, senators had no choice until the end of the second round, the 64th session in general. Dorion pointed out that the defender Thomas Chabot He was announcing the team selection in the first round, but wasn’t too disappointed not to complete the task.
Speaking of the disappointment, Dorion said his amateur scouts would have liked to pick the first round, but they fully understood why the team made the deal.
Dorion joked, “The scouts told me they had a clause in their contract that would give them a bonus to make the playoffs…they told me they were looking forward to it.”
The Senators missed the Stanley Cup playoffs for the fifth consecutive season by virtue of their record 33-42-7.
Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson said on June 29 that he has not closed the door to DeBrincat trading.
“There are some players who are being ostracized by the status of their contract. These are the accomplishments these players have achieved. But we are in a position to listen (to offers). I think it would be illogical to do otherwise.”
Davidson also noted that he was looking into his options for a first-round pick this year.
“We don’t have one right now and it would be nice to have one, but we’re not going to force things,” he said. When you try to force things, that’s where you make mistakes. We’ll see if we can get our hands on the first-round pick, we’d like. However, this may not be possible. »
The Black Hawks (27-42-11) did not qualify for the playoffs this season. They have won only one series – the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs against the Edmonton Oilers – since winning the Stanley Cup in 2015 for the third time in six seasons (2010 and 2013). Davidson still believes it’s a rebuild that will put the Black Hawks back into what made them so successful not too long ago.
A second-round pick (39th place) in the 2016 draft, DeBrincat scored 307 points (160 goals, 147 assists) in 368 regular season games and six points (two goals, four assists) in nine playoffs.
“We thank Alex for his tireless dedication to serving the Black Hawks over the past five seasons and wish him all the best in Ottawa,” Davidson said. It was a very difficult decision to trade a player of this caliber. We believe this gesture lays the foundation for Black Hawk’s future success. Having a pick for round one tonight and another pick for round two tomorrow allows us to boost our pool of prospects with some talented players that we believe can make a difference in the years to come. »