Red Wings swing big with huge trade

Much of the recent speculation surrounding Alex DeBrincat and the Ottawa Senators centered around the New York Islanders and Anaheim Ducks as the most-likely suitors in any trade. At the beginning of the offseason, the Detroit Red Wings were deemed the likeliest landing spot for DeBrincat, but seemed to have fallen out of the running.

Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reported on Sunday, though, that closure on the DeBrincat saga would be coming in the near future on Sunday, with Detroit the team acquiring him. A short while later, the deal was officially announced, with the Red Wings sending Dominik Kubalik, Donovan Sebrango, a conditional first-round pick in 2024 and a fourth-round pick in 2024 to the Senators in exchange for DeBrincat. For context's sake, at last year’s draft, Ottawa traded their first-round pick, a second-round pick and their third-round pick in 2024. 

In a follow-up note, Detroit also announced a four-year, $31.5M extension for their new acquisition, which would carry an AAV of $7.785M. Most importantly for the Red Wings, they were able to keep their captain, Dylan Larkin, as their highest-paid player, while also buying out three unrestricted free-agency years for DeBrincat.

The Farmington Hills, MI native is now officially apart of his childhood team.

By acquiring DeBrincat, Detroit immediately addresses one of the major problems that has plagued them over the last few seasons – their offense. Two seasons ago, playing for the Chicago Blackhawks, DeBrincat scored 41 goals and 37 assists in 82 games. This past season with the Senators, DeBrincat scored 27 goals and 39 assists in 82 games.