The Winged Wheel Podcast’s Ryan Hana reported the following yesterday night…
Per @JeffMarek, the two teams still in on the Alex DeBrincat sweepstakes are the Detroit Red Wings and the New York Islanders. #LGRW
— Ryan Hana (@RyanHanaWWP) July 5, 2023
Bally Sports Midwest’s Andy Strickland offered these two tidbits…
Sounds like Alex Debrincat to Detroit is still very much alive
— Andy Strickland (@andystrickland) July 5, 2023
Barring a sudden shift, and as always things can change very quickly, my guess is that the Alex DeBrincat situation has held up Ottawa from signing Tarasenko. Once he’s moved, likely to the #LGRW , that will open door for Tarasenko to sign with Ottawa.
— Andy Strickland (@andystrickland) July 5, 2023
The Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch added a quip of his own…
Maybe his camp has come to the realization he needs to come to terms with a team to get moved #Sens https://t.co/xvtPHjzYuR
— Bruce Garrioch (@SunGarrioch) July 5, 2023
And now 97.1 the Ticket’s Karsch and Anderson show are running with last night’s rumor from Marek (who is to be believed about 99% of the time):
The Red Wings aren’t out of the race to acquire Alex DeBrincat. In fact, they’re one of two serious suitors remaining as we approach the potential finish line, according to TSN’s Jeff Marek, who reported Tuesday that “it sounds like the two teams in the DeBrincat sweepstakes here are the Detroit Red Wings and the New York Islanders. That’s where we’re at.”
When the dust settles, Karsch expects DeBrincat to land in Detroit, “a borderline obvious fit,” because the Wings have more cap space and better assets to offer the Senators than the Islanders do:
“Maybe the most comfortable part about this is, I think the hangup is that Yzerman has offered a reasonable return to Ottawa and a reasonable contract to DeBrincat, and Ottawa is just trying to find out if they can get more.”
DeBrincat is a two-time 40-goal scorer and a 25-year-old restricted free agent who’s seeking a long-term contract with his next team, likely similar to the eight-year, $70 million deal that 26-year-old Timo Meier, a 40-goal scorer last season, just signed with the Devils. He’s also a Michigan native with a known desire to play in Detroit. The Red Wings have about $10 million in cap space, still one of the highest figures in the NHL after several signings in free agency, a rich prospect pool and an extra first-round pick in next year’s draft. The Islanders, to put it simply, have none of those things.
“Any hangup in a deal tells me that Yzerman so far has not blown away Ottawa with an offer to get DeBrincat,” says Karsch. “But the fact that it’s reportedly down to the Red Wings and Islanders tells me that he is offering a contract to DeBrincat that DeBrincat likes, more than he’s offered players or picks to Ottawa that they like. I’m going to guess that the Islanders have offered Ottawa more for DeBrincat, but they don’t have the money as it stands right now.
“Would it make sense that DeBrincat’s camp and Yzerman have a ballpark contract that they both would agree to and Ottawa’s thinking, ‘Well, we don’t want to just give him away. The Islanders will give us more.’ And the Islanders are thinking, ‘Well, we don’t have the cap space.’ So the Senators are waiting for the Islanders to figure that out — and if they can’t, they’re going to take what they can get for him.”
Continued, with an audio clip here:
Update: Pat Caputo’s not wrong here:
Obviously, Alex DeBrincat to Red Wings remains possible. Detroit has cap space, draft picks, young players, and location edge over other teams, including Islanders. But NY would be best place to win now. pic.twitter.com/QmUQpFKJpy
— Pat Caputo (@patcaputo98) July 5, 2023
