NHL News Roundup: DeBrincat Extension, Kaprizov & More

Red Wings fans needed some good news, and they got it last week when Alex DeBrincat agreed to a seven-year, $91 million extension ($13 million AAV). He’s one of the NHL’s more underrated scorers and quietly put up 41 goals last season. They can build around him as they navigate the Larkin and Edvinsson situations.

A $13 million AAV may seem pricey, but that’s the going rate with the cap rising. Forty-goal scorers don’t grow on trees, and high-end shooting talents tend to age better than other skaters. Red Wings fans should be more than pleased they locked up DeBrincat long-term.

Red Wings Have Zero Interest in Trading Edvinsson

Speaking of Edvinsson. While he may prefer a trade out of Detroit, the Red Wings prefer to sign him to a new contract. “I have zero interest in trading Simon Edvinsson,” interim general manager Shawn Horcoff told NHL.com. “I want to keep him.”

That’s probably not a surprise. The Red Wings need young players to build around, and Edvinsson is exactly that. Sure, the Red Wings could probably get a haul for Edvinsson. He’s a 6-foot-5 defenseman with mobility and team control, but their best path to retooling is keeping him. Trading him likely only sets them back.

Panthers’ Hat Tricks

It’s been one heck of a week for the Florida Panthers. Despite injuries to Aleksander Barkov and Brad Marchand earlier in the season, they’re finding ways to win. This week, it was thanks to a trio of hat tricks: two from Brady Tkachuk and one from Carter Verhaeghe.

Those hat tricks came in back-to-back-to-back games. The Panthers became the first team in NHL history to record natural hat tricks in three consecutive games. Obviously, it’d be unfair to expect that to continue, but Brady Tkachuk is making an impact in his first season with the Panthers. They have the depth to make up for losing Barkov and Marchand long-term.

Maple Leafs Acquire Raty

The Toronto Maple Leafs are off to a slow start, going 3-4-2 across their first nine games. They have a couple of concerns, one of them being their bottom six. They have too many defense-first forwards in their bottom six and not enough with offensive upside.

That’s why they acquired Aatu Raty from the Vancouver Canucks. Raty was placed on waivers by the Canucks earlier in the week. He went unclaimed, but the Canucks found a trade suitor in the Maple Leafs.

Raty hasn’t found his footing in the NHL, but perhaps a change of scenery could help. He’s produced in the AHL and has averaged 10 goals and 21 points per 84 games in the NHL. He certainly has more skill than some of the Maple Leafs’ bottom-six forwards. They didn’t give up much to acquire him, and he’s certainly worth a flyer to try and improve their scoring depth.

Flyers Aren’t Considering a Coaching Change…For Now

The Philadelphia Flyers picked up their first win of the season over the weekend, but noise around Rick Tocchet’s job security certainly hasn’t gone away. At least for now, the Flyers aren’t planning on making a coaching change:

That’s probably the right move this early in the season, but even after another week of games, the Flyers’ five-on-five numbers still haven’t moved much. They have xG% of 34 percent, dead last in the NHL. I still believe that’s an unsustainably low number, but their five-on-five play remains an issue.

The bottom line is the Flyers need to string together a couple of wins to salvage their season before it’s too late. It won’t get much easier, with the Avalanche, Buffalo Sabres, and Anaheim Ducks next on their schedule. A couple of wins against those teams could go a long way toward righting the ship.

Kaprizov the First to Double-Digit Goals

The Minnesota Wild are off a strong start, and Kirill Kaprizov has played a major role. He scored his 10th goal of the season in a 2-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday evening, making him the first NHLer to hit double-digit goals this season.

Kaprizov has 10 goals in nine games, putting him on pace for 93 goals. He’s shooting 32.3 percent, so he’s due for some regression. Still, the Wild wouldn’t be 6-2-1 without him. He’s been tremendous.

Advanced stats from Hockey Stats