Alex DeBrincat. Jason Mowry-USA TODAY Sports

Senators GM pleased with return from Alex DeBrincat trade

By Michael Gallagher | Last updated 7/11/23

Seemingly everyone had an opinion regarding the trade package the Ottawa Senators got for trading 25-year-old forward Alex DeBrincat to the Detroit Red Wings.

And while most believe the Senators package of 27-year-old forward Dominik Kubalik, defensive prospect Donovan Sebrango plus a conditional 2024 first-round pick and 2024 fourth-rounder was an underwhelming return for a scorer of DeBrincat’s caliber, Ottawa general manager Pierre Dorion think his team actually made out quite well, all things considered.

“I don’t look at it as the price we paid versus what we got in return because the situations are totally different,” Dorion told TSN1200 on Tuesday. “One guy was two years out from UFA when we acquired him, and he gave us a good year of hockey. … We got a pretty good player for a year and we feel we maximized our return. Let’s look in three to five years if that player we take in the first round is better than the player we would’ve taken at No. 7.”

Alex DeBrincat has signed a four-year contract extension with the @DetroitRedWings!#LGRW | #NHLFreeAgency pic.twitter.com/IAYcAQjmHH
— NHL Network (@NHLNetwork) July 10, 2023

That No. 7 pick, of course, was the centerpiece of the trade package the Senators sent the Chicago Blackhawks last season to acquire DeBrincat in the first place. They also gave the Blackhawks a second-rounder in the 2022 draft (No. 39 overall) plus a third-rounder in 2024. Chicago drafted defenseman Kevin Korchinski (No. 1 prospect in organization) and center Paul Ludwinski (No. 14 prospect in organization), respectively, with the two picks Ottawa gave up.

Kubalik may not be the 40-goal scorer DeBrincat is, but he is a solid offensive contributor. He’s scored 20 or more goals and 40 or more points in two of his four NHL seasons. A third-round pick by Ottawa in the 2020 draft, Sebrango was the Senators' No. 14-ranked prospect, per The Athletic.

Detroit has the option to either send its own first-rounder or the first-rounder it acquired from the Boston Bruins at the trade deadline to the Senators. However, Boston’s first-rounder is conditional as well in that if it’s in the top 10, the Bruins can keep the pick and send Detroit their first-rounder in 2025 instead. The Red Wings can then either send Boston’s 2025 first-rounder or their own 2024 first-rounder to Ottawa to complete the trade.

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