Following speculation that the Ottawa Senators were willing to work with the forward at nearly any level to get a deal done and that the team might be thinking about taking him to arbitration if a deal couldn’t be reached, Alex DeBrincat and his agent are pushing the Senators to make a trade. The latest news is that the player has submitted a list of teams he would be willing to go to via trade.
TSN’s Pierre LeBrun noted during the latest TSN Insider Trading: “Alex DeBrincat as his camp led by agent Jeff Jackson has submitted the list of preferred destinations, teams his client would be interested in joining.” It’s important to note that DeBrincat does not have trade protection in his contract, nor can he block a move. The Senators, should they choose to move him, can send him where they want and need to.
LeBrun said a trade isn’t necessarily a certainty at this point, but says a deal is more likely than not. He notes about the list DeBrincat submitted: “The reason that’s significant is that if general manager Pierre Dorion does trade DeBrincat, he would want him to be signed through this trade so he could get maximum value back in return.” LeBrun says he doesn’t know what teams are on the list, only that it has been submitted.
Will The Senators Trade DeBrincat?
The Senators are in a bit of a pickle here. Craig Button of TSN said any deal is going to be about the Senators trying to acquire something meaningful for their team, especially since they gave up a seventh-overall pick to land him in a trade. That said, with DeBrincat not signed and potentially either inking a one-year qualifying offer or going to arbitration, there’s a risk for any team involved in making a deal, should the forward not want to commit long-term.
The other option, as Button points out, is holding onto DeBrincat, getting him inked to the one-year deal, and then moving him at the deadline. It will be important for DeBrincat to rebound from a less-than-stellar season as the future value of a long-term contract with any club rides on him having a solid season. The Senators can get value out of that and he then becomes a hot commodity at the NHL Trade Deadline.
Having said all of that, a trade early is more likely. DeBrincat recently indicated he wishes to wait until the completion of the Senators’ sale before thinking of signing a long-term extension. A couple of days later, a list of teams got submitted. Things are moving rather quickly and a trade is probably not far away. LeBrun noted, “Bringing him back on a one-year deal is a possibility (salary arbitration is an option), and DeBrincat would have no problem playing another year in Ottawa. But it feels like the most prudent thing to do here, if you’re the Senators, is to trade him this summer.”
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