The Detroit Red Wings need to aggressively pursue Alex DeBrincat

The Alex DeBrincat sweepstakes continue to heat up, and the Detroit Red Wings are expected to be in the mix for his services.

DeBrincat, 25, a native of Farmington Hills and a former second-round draft selection (39th overall) of the Chicago Blackhawks, appears to be on the move again following just one season with the Senators. DeBrincat is precisely what the Detroit Red Wings need, a crafty goal scorer. The 25-year-old is a two-time 41-goal scorer and has amassed 187 goals and 373 points over 450 career games.

DeBrincat is coming off a solid season in Ottawa, where he totaled 27 goals and 66 points in 82 games while maintaining a Corsi For Percentage of 50.9% but was a minus-31 on the season while averaging 19 minutes of ice time per game.

His Relative Corsi For Percentage of -1.0 during even-strength play this past season had been the worst of his career. That metric also mirrored a career-worst -1.2 Relative Fenwick For Percentage playing at even strength. This past season DeBrincat averaged one goal per 60/minutes and 2.5 points per 60/minutes; both had been the lowest since 2019-20. His career averages settle in at 1.36 goals/60 minutes and 2.68 points/60 minutes.

DeBrincat is set to become a restricted free agent on July 1st. The Senators have recently elected for salary arbitration, but the sense is he will be traded sooner than later. The scoring winger has clearly voiced his urge to play elsewhere. The Senators are in the midst of an ownership change, and it appears DeBrincat is somewhat unsettled with the direction of the Senators and sees this as a perfect opportunity to get out. Evolving Hockey (subscription) has suggested that DeBrincat is expected to earn an eight-year deal worth $9.1 million annually on his next contract.

TSN’s Chris Johnston recently reported that it is Ottawa’s preference to get a trade done sometime this month, ahead of or during the NHL Draft, which takes place on June 28th and 29th.

“In Ottawa on this day, the Senators elected for salary arbitration with Alex DeBrincat, but how that should be interpreted is basically they set the window for when they have to trade him,” Johnston explained. “Any salary arbitration case comes with a one-year contract awarded and there’s an understanding here that DeBrincat is most valuable as an asset if he gets a multi-year deal. And so that means they’re going to have to deal him by the end of July or early August when the arb hearings happen. I believe they’re going to put a push on here to get that deal done much, much sooner by the Draft this month.”

Johnson also mentioned there is a small list of teams DeBrincat provided the Senators, and Ottawa is working through their options. It’s still speculation, but the Detroit Red Wings, Vegas Golden Knights, and Florida Panthers are considered to be three of DeBrincat’s options.

The Detroit Red Wings desperately need to add a goal-scorer like Alex DeBrincat.

DeBrincat will fit nicely on Detroit’s top line with captain Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond. The Detroit Red Wings saw their power play vastly improve last season, hovering around the league average thanks to last summer’s free-agent additions of David Perron and Dominik Kubalik, plus a late-season surge in production from an unlikely source in Alex Chaisson. But there is still plenty of room for improvement.

DeBrincat recorded 11 power-play goals last season for the Senators, and 19 power-play assists. In comparison, Larkin led the Red Wings with a whopping 16 power-play goals, and Perron had 16 power-play assists. Kubalik finished second on the team with seven power-play goals; Larkin recorded 15 assists, while Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond each tallied 14 helpers with the man advantage.

The Detroit Red Wings have the assets to get a deal done with Ottawa if they are willing to trade him within the division. Detroit has an abundance of draft capital this year and next, plus a few intriguing prospects they could package up to get a deal done. We will see if general manager Steve Yzerman is prepared to make a much-needed splash this summer.