Not surprisingly, The Fourth Period reports that other NHL teams are inquiring about the availability of Red Wings forward Alex DeBrincat, who has 1 year remaining on his contract:
It is unclear if the Red Wings have an appetite to explore a trade involving DeBrincat, at this stage, but citing multiple league sources, TFP’s David Pagnotta reports teams have reached out.
DeBrincat owns a 16-team no-trade list as part of his contract and does have some control in where he ends up, if dealt.
The Edmonton Oilers, Chicago Blackhawks, Toronto Maple Leafs, New Jersey Devils, Seattle Kraken and Buffalo Sabres are some of the teams exploring the market for a top-line, scoring winger and could have interest in DeBrincat.
DeBrincat scored 41 goals and added a career-high 44 assists for a career-high 85 points in 82 games with the Red Wings this past season.
Continued; everything for the Wings depends on what happens with the team’s direction post-Dylan Larkin.
We’re going to have to wait and see whether Patrick Kane, who can test the free agent marketplace next Wednesday, agrees to remain here if the Larkin trade isn’t consummated by then, and whether the Wings acquire players that can help now or “future considerations” in the form of prospects and draft picks will determine whether DeBrincat remains…
Though I have a feeling that DeBrincat is a stronger pick to remain a Red Wing than Kane at this point.
The rumor in the Twitter-verse is that the Wings have told suitors for Cat that they don’t want to trade him and are focusing on win-now returns for Larkin. I’m not sure I believe it, but I can see the Wings wanting to keep Cat, whether they are rebuilding more or trying to stay competitive next season.
I’ve been off Twitter for an hour doing therapy stuff, but my understanding is that one way or another, the Wings *do* want immediate help for Larkin, even if that involves flipping prospects and picks to a 3rd team.
I just can’t imagine the Wings dumping DeBrincat unless they want to restart the rebuild. It’s gonna be hard to ride the fine line between losing your first-line center and losing the momentum the Wings have developed prior to their March swoons, but the fans pay too much money and the coach and management are finally on the same page…
So I don’t see them giving up right now. DeBrincat being dealt would be waving the white flag.
It’s great to have you back in the game, George. I went from checking you a couple times of week to multiple times a day. You are on fire right now! I know you’re not always able to keep this pace, but I’m certainly happy to have you when you’re up to it.
The plan is to get up to 80-90% of what I did before.
Trying to cover 100% of the Red Wings 100% of the time makes anybody physically worn down, and there are just too many people who specialize on the Griffins, the Walleye or prospects’ daily stats, so I’m not going to get all of that done…
But if I can get SOME prospect content with MOST of the Red Wings content, and have some sliver of a personal life in addition to the main caregiving job, that would be awesome.
So that’s the plan.