Red Wings forward Alex DeBrincat spoke with the media at training camp today, and the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan took note of DeBrincat’s enthusiasm regarding joining his hometown team:
“It’s a dream come true,” DeBrincat said. “Growing up, they were making the playoffs every year. It was so fun to root for them and winning Stanley Cups. Definitely, it was a dream of mine to play here, and I’m just grateful it happened and I’m hoping to get back to that stage of winning and really contributing here.”
DeBrincat, 25, twice scored 41 goals in his career, while with Chicago. Last season, DeBrincat slumped to 27 goals, in what proved to be a frustrating season.
“A lot of it was different luck in different situations,” DeBrincat said. “Focus a little more on bearing down when I get my chances. Last year, I gave up a lot of chances, maybe got lazy or hit a post; a lot of it was like that. I’m pretty confident of getting back to that (40-goal) form. We have a lot of great players here and I just have to find the spaces out there.”
By any metric, it wasn’t a great defensive season for DeBrincat in Ottawa, which was abnormal from his years in Chicago. That is something DeBrincat wants to change.
“It ended up not the best two-way game, but in past years, I’ve been a pretty good two-way forward and getting back in the defensive zone and creating offense that way,” DeBrincat said. “That’s what I have to get back to and create more chances for me and my linemates. That’s something I’ll be working for.”
