Much has been said about Steve Yzerman’s drafting ability throughout his tenure in Detroit. Right now, the Red Wings sport a 23 man roster that is made up of nine of Yzerman’s draft picks within the last six years.
On the flip side, Yzerman’s track record when it comes to free agency and the trade market in the last few years isn’t nearly as clean, with signings like Erik Gustafsson and Justin Holl having to be buried in the AHL after underperforming for the main roster.
One name that Yzerman can mostly certainly take pride in, however, for acquiring, is Alex DeBrincat.
DeBrincat, a Farmington Hills, Michigan native, had been drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks and played with Patrick Kane for several years before being traded to the Ottawa Senators in the 2022-23 season.
However, his tenure in Ottawa was short lived due to a variety of reasons, but regardless, the Red Wings brought him back home by sending a first and fourth round draft pick, Dominik Kubalik, and Donavan Sebrango to the Senators.
Alex DeBrincat has 65-plus points in each season so far with the Detroit Red Wings
Last year he had 39 goals and 31 assists for 70 points, the third-best statistical season of his career. He’s also played in every game for the Red Wings, sporting a 305-game iron man streak as of the time of this writing.
Night in and night out, fans have seen number 93 driving play to the net. He’s one of the team’s most productive players, despite being one of the less talked about members of the Red Wings' core. While DeBrincat doesn’t bring a ton of physical size to the ice, he plays far bigger than his 5’8” frame belies. With 20 goals and 19 assists so far this season, DeBrincat is top 15 in the NHL for points.
That’s despite the fact that he didn’t score a single goal for the first eight games of the season. DeBrincat has always been something of a streaky scorer, with stretches of sometimes 10 or 12 games without a goal.
Detroit’s other two most productive players, Lucas Raymond and Dylan Larkin, sit behind DeBrincat now in terms of both points and goals. But DeBrincat’s value also extends beyond the scoresheet.
The Red Wings may not have been able to land, and keep Patrick Kane in Detroit without him. His chemistry with Kane with the Red Wings mirrors some of the same magic those two had in their five seasons together in Chicago. The pair even occasionally pairs together off-ice for a show called Pat and Cat.
DeBrincat may not have been “one of Steve Yzerman’s picks”, but he’s been just as, if not more important to the recent success of this team’s rebuild than just about any of the players Yzerman has taken in the draft.