After filling some holes in free agency, Detroit Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman made a big splash for the goal-scorer the team desperately needs.
The Red Wings landed two-time 41-goal scorer Alex DeBrincat from the Ottawa Senators on Sunday and signed him to a four-year extension with an average annual value of $7.875 million.
Detroit traded forward Dominik Kubalik, defenseman prospect Donovan Sebrango, a conditional 2024 first-round draft pick and a 2024 fourth-round selection. The Senators will get the lower pick between the Red Wings’ first-round selection in 2024 and Boston’s, which is top-10 protected and was acquired by Detroit in the Tyler Bertuzzi trade. If that pick gets shifted to 2025, the Red Wings will still have the choice of send that selection or their own 2024 pick to Ottawa.
DeBrincat had been seeking seven or eight years, which was holding up the deal.
DeBrincat, 25, was a restricted free agent who declared he wasn’t going to re-sign with the Senators, forcing their hand. Detroit was the preferred destination for the Farmington Hills native.
Despite his size (5-8, 178) and defensive deficiencies (minus-31 last season), he’s a proven scorer. He tallied 27 goals last season with Ottawa and has 187 goals (along with 186 assists) in 450 games over six seasons.
Selected in the second round by Chicago in 2016 (39th overall), DeBrincat scored 41 goals in his second season in 2018-19 and again in 2021-22, when he collected a career-high 78 points.
The Red Wings ranked 24th in goals per game last season. After a flurry of free-agent signings that included J.T. Compher (career-high 52 points), Daniel Sprong (career-high 20 goals) and Shayne Gostisbehere (offensive defenseman), Yzerman said he hoped the Red Wings collectively could score more.
The rebuilding Blackhawks traded DeBrincat to the Senators on the first day of the 2022 draft for first-, second- and third-round picks.
Kubalik has one year remaining on his contract at a $2.5 million cap hit and will be an unrestricted free agent in 2024.