The Detroit Red Wings made a splash on Sunday by acquiring Michigan native and former Chicago Blackhawk Alex DeBrincat from the Ottawa Senators in a blockbuster trade that also involved two players and draft picks.
The Red Wings also announced they signed DeBrincat, who was a restricted free agent, to a four-year contract extension with an annual average value of $7,875,000. He’s coming off a three-year, $19.2 million contract that carried a $6.4 million annual average value.
DeBrincat, 25, is a two-time 40-goal scorer who has 187 goals and 373 points in 450 NHL games. He had 27 goals and 66 points in 82 games with the Senators last season, ranking fourth on the team in both categories.
The 5-foot-7, 178-pound winger was drafted by the Blackhawks in the second round, 39th overall, in the 2016 draft. He spent five seasons in Chicago before being traded to Ottawa last year for the seventh and 39th picks in the 2022 draft and a third-round pick in 2024.
In exchange for DeBrincat, the Senators received forward Dominik Kubalik, defenseman Donovan Sebrango, a conditional first-round pick and a fourth-round pick in the 2024 draft. The first-round pick is Detroit’s own or Boston’s, whichever is lower.
Kubalik, 27, had 20 goals and 45 points in 81 games with the Red Wings last season. He was originally drafted by the Los Angeles Kings in the seventh round, 191st overall, in the 2013 draft.
Sebrango, 21, is an Ottawa native who split last season between the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins and the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye. He also won a gold medal with Team Canada at the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship.
The trade gives the Red Wings another star forward to complement captain Dylan Larkin and young talents like Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider. It also marks a return home for DeBrincat, who grew up in Farmington Hills and played for the Belle Tire youth hockey program.
The trade ends a tumultuous tenure for DeBrincat in Ottawa, where he reportedly clashed with coach D.J. Smith and requested a trade earlier this summer. He joins a Red Wings team that is looking to make the playoffs for the first time since 2016 under GM Steve Yzerman.
