Revisiting Senators Asset Management Alex DeBrincat Trades – Hockey Writers – Ottawa Senators

At first, the move seemed to be paying off with DeBrincat registering 36 points in as many games, but the 2022-23 season would be filled with many ups and downs for both player and team. After months of .500 hockey, the Sens finally played consistently enough for a respectable stretch and were in a good spot with a 33-28-3 record in early March. That was before they lost 12 of their last 18 to end the season and miss the playoffs for the sixth straight year in that stretch.

As for DeBrincat, who posted 11 points in those last 18 games, he finished his only season in Ottawa with 27 goals and 66 points in 82 games, down from 12 points last season and finishing with a career-low minus-31. Due to a combination of factors, DeBrincat made it clear that he would not continue with Ottawa, and a trade was imminent that offseason.

While the Senators failed in their bid to emerge as playoff contenders that season, the Blackhawks didn’t seem like a gang in return, but did well nonetheless, most notably selecting Kevin Korchinski with Ottawa’s first-round pick in the 2022 Draft. At the time, Korchinski was considered the most explosive defenseman to come out of the Western Hockey League, but he still struggled defensively and stalled in his development, appearing in just 13 games for Chicago last season.

The Blackhawks used two more picks to select another struggling young prospect in Paul Ludwinski (2022 second round pick) and a fast two-way prospect in AJ Spellacy (2024 fourth round pick), who just made the jump to the American Hockey League next season. While it appears the Senators haven’t lost the deal, this is only one part of DeBrincat’s problem and not the whole story.

07/09/2023 – Sending Him Out

Amidst DeBrincat’s declining value compared to the previous summer, largely due to decreased production and size, Dorion didn’t have much to work with in terms of the league’s interest in the winger. Returning the same amount that was given to acquire DeBrincat would not be possible based on the events of this past season, but there was no choice because Ottawa would lose him for nothing if they did not take him.

With their hands tied, the Senators were able to send DeBrincat to his favorite team, the Detroit Red Wings, for a very low price: conditional first- and fourth-round picks, both in 2024, middle defensive prospect Donovan Sebrango and return Dominik Kubalik for $2.5 million.

Kubalik was considered a top-six prospect after scoring 20 goals in the 2022-23 season with Detroit, but he was nowhere near DeBrincat’s position at the position the Sens were hoping to fill. In the 2023-24 campaign, Kubalik totaled just 11 goals and 15 points in 74 games as a Senator. He hasn’t been in the NHL since, playing in Switzerland the last two seasons.

Sebrango, Detroit’s third-round pick from 2020, was the Sens’ seventh-eighth defenseman in all four games. He was picked up by the Florida Panthers last October, meaning Ottawa lost two of its possessions with the return of DeBrincat, and Kubalik also left last season.

Then comes the draft pick used with two picks. The fourth round was used to select a great prospect in Blake Montgomery in the 2024 Draft, but Ottawa will pack a first round pick that belonged to the Boston Bruins back to them for Linus Ullmark. With that pick, Boston will select 6-foot-7, 220-pound Dean Letourneau, who had 39 points in 36 games with Boston College this past season.

So, here’s how the full trade went down after four years from the Senators’ point of view:

Ottawa receives:

• One year of Alex DeBrincat (66 points) – traded
• One year of Dominik Kubalik (15 points) – released
• Donovan Sebrango’s four games – suspended
• Linus Ullmark – starting goalkeeper
• Blake Montgomery – hope

Ottawa Trades:

• Kevin Korchinski – hope
• AJ Spellacy – hope
• Paul Ludwinski – hope
• Dean Letourneau – hope

While it doesn’t appear that the Senators have lost much, it may take another five to ten years until we determine if the drafted prospects have helped them. At this stage of their contention window, however, it’s unlikely that Ottawa will be concerned about what assets they’ve lost from DeBrincat’s evaluation at this point, but they could learn a thing or two about trades like this to avoid losing employment.

Even when Dorion, who was fired early in the 2023-24 season, rushed to bring a quality player who didn’t want to commit to the Senators to start, he made the same mistake as Jakob Chychrun in the 2022-23 season. He traded three picks to the then-Arizona Coyotes before that year’s trade deadline in an unsuccessful push. Chychrun also did not want to stay in Ottawa and was sent for a very small fee by Steve Staios.

Overall, the Senators didn’t completely lose the DeBrincat sweepstakes, but they must learn to look for impact players if they want to save their assets while competing. They tried the same thing with Jason Robertson of the Dallas Stars, but he wisely backed out since he wasn’t going to sign in Ottawa. If there is a silver lining, DeBrincat and the Red Wings have yet to make the playoffs and the Sens are in a better spot than their Atlantic Division rivals.