Senators: 3 Offseason Trade Destinations for Alex DeBrincat

A lot of signs point to Alex Debrincat being traded this summer by the Ottawa Senators as Bruce Garrioch discussed what has been surrounding the winger since he arrived.

“I think we’re talking about a guy who has no inclination of signing here…He said he’s open to having discussions, but I felt what he said was very non-committal. He hasn’t shown any signs that he’s going to sign a contract extension here. The Senators won’t keep him unless they can get some sort of long-term extension in place. They’ve had the door open here since they acquired him last July and there has been no substantial discussions between DeBrincat, Pierre Dorian, and DeBrincat’s agent.”

He thinks there’s a possibility we see DeBrincat get moved. The Senators have about $67-68 million on the books next year before any signings of DeBrincat, Shane Pinto, or a few other younger players. They also need to look into adding some other pieces throughout the lineup as they also have UFAs. The Senators will give DeBrincat a $9 million qualifying offer, but whether he accepts or declines, may very well move him at the draft. Here’s three teams who will be in the running.

Detroit Red Wings

The Detroit Red Wings have the cap space and need to make a couple of big additions. They parted ways with Tyler Bertuzzi and Filip Hronek at the trade deadline this year, so they would like to replace the production Bertuzzi with an even better player. This team can be linked to a number of different impactful top-six players and the Red Wings could surely use a 25-year-old two-time 40-goal scorer on their team long-term.

Whether he would be an option on the first or second line, the Red Wings would be in a position to give DeBrincat similar money to Dylan Larkin long-term to keep him around. Detroit is in a place where they have most of their core pieces in place and have to make those big additions if they want to take that next step into the playoffs. They are past the heart of the rebuild now and have the draft picks and prospects to get a deal done.

Montreal Canadiens

The Montreal Canadiens are in a similar spot to the Red Wings except they were really impacted by injuries this season that pushed them down the standings. They have a bunch of money coming off of the books after this season and a big need for a top-six winger. DeBrincat is just a couple of years older than Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield, but is a similar age to the core of the team.

Related: 3 Ottawa Senators Offseason Trade Candidates

They also have a number of assets to use to acquire DeBrincat and seeing as it cost the Senators a high first rounder along with a second and third round pick, the price will be lower than that as he will no longer be on his $6.4 million AAV deal. The Canadiens could really use DeBrincat in the role he played for the Senators, a second liner to create more scoring on lines other than the first and to help Kirby Dach along. They have some familiarity from being in Chicago together as well.

Anaheim Ducks

The Anaheim Ducks didn’t expect to finish this poorly this season, but they will have the best shot at the number one overall pick and Connor Bedard. They will likely be in line to draft a franchise player who will be ready to come in and play games immediately and will hope that with a healthier squad and one more year under the belts of their young stars, they will make progress towards an eventual playoff return.

The Ducks have a ton of cap space to work with and the skill up top where DeBrincat and the team can really benefit from a potential trade. Troy Terry, Trevor Zegras, and Jamie Drysdale need new contracts, so acquiring DeBrincat on top of that with a long-term extension can really kick off the turnaround of the team and lock in what will be the majority of the core moving forward. The Ducks also have a lot of picks in the first three rounds over the next two years to use to acquire him.