Red Wings: Analyzing possible trade, Alex DeBrincat

Alex DeBrincat is a 24-year-old left wing who is currently playing for the Chicago Blackhawks. Although he has not been heavily mentioned on trade boards, it was rumored that DeBrincat is not an untouchable asset on Chicago’s roster like he was expected to be. The odds are not high in the slightest, but what if Alex DeBrincat has a future behind the Winged Wheel?

Stats

In the 2021-22 season so far, Alex DeBrincat leads Chicago in goal scoring with 34 goals with 12 of those coming on the power play. Having played 60 games, DeBrincat has tallied 55 points which is nearly a point per game pace but over half of those points are goals. He sits 6th in the league with 34 goals behind Auston Matthews, Leon Draisaitl, Chris Kreider, Kyle Connor, and Alex Ovechkin- so he’s definitely in good company in terms of performance in front of the net.

DeBrincat has played in 346 career games with a total of 284 points- 153 goals and 131 assists. His entire career has been spent with the Blackhawks and he has been one of their top goal scorers in his five seasons played. With an average shooting percentage of 15.9, DeBrincat sits above some of the current goal scoring leaders in the league such as Connor McDavid and Kyle Connor while just falling short of Auston Matthews.

His best career season so far was his 2018-19 season in which he scored 41 goals and 35 assists for a combined 76 points in 82 games. This equates to roughly 0.927 points per game- a pace which he is close to attaining through 60 games this year as he currently has an average of 0.917 points per game.

Why DeBrincat?

Detroit needs big scorers in their offense. Having a young and consistent goal scorer such as Alex DeBrincat could be a turning point for this continually rebuilding team. Take Jakub Vrana for example- he has already shown how much of a difference it makes to have a strong goal scorer in the lineup in just the handful of games that he has been back.

In his five seasons played, DeBrincat has been remarkably consistent with his one outlier season being the 2019-20 season in which his statisitics are notably lower than his other four seasons.

He is the age of player that this team is beginning to build a core around and would be a dynamic addition to lines with players such as Dylan Larkin, Lucas Raymond, Jakub Vrana and even Joe Veleno and Filip Zadina. At only 24 years of age, Alex DeBrincat falls right in the middle of a majority of the Red Wings roster and would help to keep this team full of young talent. He also has a similar level of experience to Larkin and Vrana which would again be a positive for the Red Wings rebuild.

Is receiving Alex DeBrincat incredibly likely? No, but it is still an interesting concept to entertain. He would definitely not be a player that comes for cheap and Detroit would have to offer up a valuable prospect or two and some higher picks in the upcoming draft, but could that end up being worth it? A DeBrincat trade has not been highlighted anywhere in the league as of recently but since he was not listed as “untouchable,” who’s to say what will happen as the trade deadline approaches.