Player Discussion Alex DeBrincat

[HSF]

Have never really watched this guy play but his stats are impressive. Might this guy be our best forward?

hes our best offensive forward right now

 

[Golden_Jet]

I caught that too. My perspective is, that we trade him at the deadline if he continues to act likes this.

Act like what, he said he wants to see if he is a good fit on team.

 

[playasRus]

Act like what, he said he wants to see if he is a good fit on team.

He's probably also a realist, you see ~35M dedicated long term to forwards in the last two years? He probably realises he may be the odd man out.

We'll see how things go!

 

[Alex1234]

Would be huge to be able to count on his 40 goals when going for the cup in 2 years probably

 

[Sensmileletsgo]

hes our best offensive forward right now

Ya, or maybe at least our best goal scorer.

 

[Sensmileletsgo]

Something about his last few sentences worries me that he might not think he signs here long term. I think he will demand top dollar.

I don’t think that’s fair to say just based off that sentence. He hasn’t even played a game yet, it’s to early to discuss a contract.

 

[Hale The Villain]

I don’t think that’s fair to say just based off that sentence. He hasn’t even played a game yet, it’s to early to discuss a contract.

It wasn't too early for Fiala, Tkachuk or Huberdeau, despite not having played a game for their new teams.

 

[DaveMatthew]

It wasn't too early for Fiala, Tkachuk or Huberdeau, despite not having played a game for their new teams.

Different situations.

Tkachuk and Fiala both knew that they were not going to re-sign with their former teams, were up front about it, and essentially navigated their way to their preferred destinations by limiting who they would talk extension with.

Huberdeau got a contract offer that he and his agent knew would not be matched in free-agency.

DeBrincat, from all reports, wanted to stay in Chicago and was not involved in any trade discussions. And we're not going to come in with a way over the top offer of $10.5M per.

 

[Burrowsaurus]

Have never really watched this guy play but his stats are impressive. Might this guy be our best forward?

Definitely our best forward

Different situations.

Tkachuk and Fiala both knew that they were not going to re-sign with their former teams, were up front about it, and essentially navigated their way to their preferred destinations by limiting who they would talk extension with.

Huberdeau got a contract offer that he and his agent knew would not be matched in free-agency.

DeBrincat, from all reports, wanted to stay in Chicago and was not involved in any trade discussions. And we're not going to come in with a way over the top offer of $10.5M per.

Nah dude it’s terrible

I caught that too. My perspective is, that we trade him at the deadline if he continues to act likes this.

Huh

 

[Micklebot]

It wasn't too early for Fiala, Tkachuk or Huberdeau, despite not having played a game for their new teams.

So we're Tkachuk and Fiala supposed to retire when they got traded, because they either needed to sign something with a team they never played for, or not play since their contracts were up.

Huberdeau is a bit better example, except that he's 29 years old and got offered a retirement deal that pays him like he's in his prime till he turns 37.

 

[Hale The Villain]

Different situations.

Tkachuk and Fiala both knew that they were not going to re-sign with their former teams, were up front about it, and essentially navigated their way to their preferred destinations by limiting who they would talk extension with.

Huberdeau got a contract offer that he and his agent knew would not be matched in free-agency.

DeBrincat, from all reports, wanted to stay in Chicago and was not involved in any trade discussions. And we're not going to come in with a way over the top offer of $10.5M per.

What's different about the situations is that Tkachuk and Fiala were willing to re-sign with their new teams without playing a single game with them because they are very attractive destinations.

Huberdeau re-signed in Calgary because he got a massive contract from a desperate team looking to remain a contender. That's the kind of contract we'll probably need to give DeBrincat to keep him in Ottawa.

If it comes to it I'd rather trade DeBrincat for assets than throw a 10-11M x 8YR contract at him. Not sure why he'd take any less when Tkachuk just got 9.5M x 8YRs in sunny tax-free Florida.

 

[coladin]

Generally, I prefer longer/max term contracts as well.

But, IF Debrincat's contract is $8.5 m starting in 2023-24, we'll have $14.1 of projected cap space to work with another 9 or 10 players to sign (for a 21 or 22 player roster). Two of players to sign would be Zub and a goalie (Talbot or his replacement). Just thinking out loud, looking at the numbers, and wondering.

Is that $14.1 taking into account what may be coming off the books as well? I know after 23-24, they are getting 5M back from buyouts being done

 

[DaveMatthew]

What's different about the situations is that Tkachuk and Fiala were willing to re-sign with their new teams without playing a single game with them because they are very attractive destinations.

Huberdeau re-signed in Calgary because he got a massive contract from a desperate team looking to remain a contender. That's the kind of contract we'll probably need to give DeBrincat to keep him in Ottawa.

If it comes to it I'd rather trade DeBrincat for assets than throw a 10-11M x 8YR contract at him. Not sure why he'd take any less when Tkachuk just got 9.5M x 8YRs in sunny tax-free Florida.

Who knows what kind of contract we'll need to offer DeBrincat to stay in Ottawa. Maybe he'll love playing with Stützle, the team starts contending, and his wife makes great friends in the community, so he falls in line with the other guys and takes 8x$8.5M.

"Not sure why he'd take any less when Tkachuk just got 9.5M x 8YRs in sunny tax-free Florida" is no different than "Not sure why [insert Tkachuk, Norris, Stützle] would sign long-term now when they can just take a bridge and choose their destination plus make more money when the cap goes up."

Isn't that what everyone was saying for the last 2 years? And then what happened?

Who knows what DeBrincat is thinking, or will be thinking after this season. At this point, we have control of him for 2 years, so let's just enjoy watching him score some goals. The doomsday "he won't want to stay!" narrative is lame.

*Footnote: Matthew Tkachuk is also a better, more valuable player than DeBrincat, and he should be paid more. He's not the comparable. Neither is Huberdeau. Both are a tier above.

 

[HSF]

What's different about the situations is that Tkachuk and Fiala were willing to re-sign with their new teams without playing a single game with them because they are very attractive destinations.

Huberdeau re-signed in Calgary because he got a massive contract from a desperate team looking to remain a contender. That's the kind of contract we'll probably need to give DeBrincat to keep him in Ottawa.

If it comes to it I'd rather trade DeBrincat for assets than throw a 10-11M x 8YR contract at him. Not sure why he'd take any less when Tkachuk just got 9.5M x 8YRs in sunny tax-free Florida.

Ottawa has a pretty poor rep around the league

I think it is changing with Melnyk gone. Still there is damage and not surprised Debrincat wants to wait and see. Also the city itself....it takes time

 

[Hale The Villain]

Who knows what kind of contract we'll need to offer DeBrincat to stay in Ottawa. Maybe he'll love playing with Stützle, the team starts contending, and his wife makes great friends in the community, so he falls in line with the other guys and takes 8x$8.5M.

"Not sure why he'd take any less when Tkachuk just got 9.5M x 8YRs in sunny tax-free Florida" is no different than "Not sure why [insert Tkachuk, Norris, Stützle] would sign long-term now when they can just take a bridge and choose their destination plus make more money when the cap goes up."

Isn't that what everyone was saying for the last 2 years? And then what happened?

Who knows what DeBrincat is thinking, or will be thinking after this season. At this point, we have control of him for 2 years, so let's just enjoy watching him score some goals. The doomsday "he won't want to stay!" narrative is lame.

I've always been consistent in saying that we won't have issues re-signing the RFAs long-term, nor should we be hesitant to do so, but upcoming UFAs will be far more difficult to keep and for most of them it's not worth overpaying to keep them in Ottawa since big UFA contracts rarely work out for the teams that give them out.

People are acting like it was some kind of big accomplishment to re-sign Tkachuk, Norris and Stutzle to deals worth around 8M a year for 7-8 years, when they were RFAs that would have had to accept far less money on bridge deals for 4 years to get out of Ottawa and get to choose their destination. That's significantly different from DeBrincat's situation where he can pick his ideal destination via UFA in 2 years, possibly earlier via a sign and trade next off-season.

Every major upcoming UFA this team has had in recent years has chosen to not re-sign, and we're extremely fortunate that is the case. We're sure glad right now that Karlsson, Stone, Duchene and Dzingel didn't take our offers of long-term extensions, and trading Turris and Pageau instead of throwing big UFA contracts at them also look like great moves right now.

Last significant UFA we re-signed was Bobby Ryan, another American star forward that we had to overpay to keep in Ottawa to save face after giving up a lot for him. Would have been better off trading him after his first year instead of extending him. Might be the same with DeBrincat.

 

[DaveMatthew]

I've always been consistent in saying that we won't have issues re-signing the RFAs long-term, nor should we be hesitant to do so, but upcoming UFAs will be far more difficult to keep and for most of them it's not worth overpaying to keep them in Ottawa since big UFA contracts rarely work out for the teams that give them out.

People are acting like it was some kind of big accomplishment to re-sign Tkachuk, Norris and Stutzle to deals worth around 8M a year for 7-8 years, when they were RFAs that would have had to accept far less money on bridge deals for 4 years to get out of Ottawa and get to choose their destination. That's significantly different from DeBrincat's situation where he can pick his ideal destination via UFA in 2 years, possibly earlier via a sign and trade next off-season.

Every major upcoming UFA this team has had in recent years has chosen to not re-sign, and we're extremely fortunate that is the case. We're sure glad right now that Karlsson, Stone, Duchene and Dzingel didn't take our offers of long-term extensions, and trading Turris and Pageau instead of throwing big UFA contracts at them also look like great moves right now.

Last significant UFA we re-signed was Bobby Ryan, another American star forward that we had to overpay to keep in Ottawa to save face after giving up a lot for him. Would have been better off trading him after his first year instead of extending him. Might be the same with DeBrincat.

The situation the team is in today is significantly different than the situation the team was in in 17/18 and 18/19. There's one key person who's no longer involved in any negotiations. And the competitive window is opening instead of closing.

So who knows what will happen with Debrincat, but assuming he won't re-sign because of what happened with Karlsson and Stone is a very poor argument.

For all we know, DeBrincat regresses slightly from an offensive perspective due to less PP time on not being spoonfed by Kane on a team that didn't care about defense, scores 35+35, and happily takes 8x8.

 

[Sensmileletsgo]

It wasn't too early for Fiala, Tkachuk or Huberdeau, despite not having played a game for their new teams.

Those guys didn’t have contracts, they had to sign. Aside from Huberdeau, and Calgary gave him a massive contract.

I’ve said it before, DeBrincat has a contract that is very favorable for him. He can sign a QO next year for 9 mill that takes him to free agency. He has a lot of leverage on his side so I’m sure he’s willing to play it out.

 

[Masked]

People are acting like it was some kind of big accomplishment to re-sign Tkachuk, Norris and Stutzle to deals worth around 8M a year for 7-8 years, when they were RFAs that would have had to accept far less money on bridge deals for 4 years to get out of Ottawa and get to choose their destination. That's significantly different from DeBrincat's situation where he can pick his ideal destination via UFA in 2 years, possibly earlier via a sign and trade next off-season.

Calgary tried to sign their Tkachuk long term and it turned into a bridge deal.

Sure DeBrincat could hope he can choose his destination in 2 years. But he's also taking a chance on a serious injury. If he leaves in 2 years, the Sens will then have more cap space and left wing is the easiest position to replace in the league. But getting 2 years out of him is fine. Next year the team could easily be in Cup contention depending upon what happens at right defense.

Assen na yo!

 

[JD1]

It wasn't too early for Fiala, Tkachuk or Huberdeau, despite not having played a game for their new teams.

Which of Fiala, Tkachuk or Huberdeau was two years out from UFA?

Their situations weree different and there's no way for you to negatively spin this around not wanting to sign.

We don't have to sign him now. Both sides saying wait and see. The end.

 

[Cosmix]

Which of Fiala, Tkachuk or Huberdeau was two years out from UFA?

Their situations weree different and there's no way for you to negatively spin this around not wanting to sign.

We don't have to sign him now. Both sides saying wait and see. The end.

Is there a league rule that says Debrincat cannot sign a new contract with Ottawa right now?

 

[Sun God Nika]

Posted this in another thread but makes more sense here :
In my mind the Senators have 2 options with Debrincat:

1. Trade him next summer ala Tkachuk.

2. Walk him straight to free agency and let him leave for free with a 1 year contract ala Stone

I would do the latter.

The price senators paid to acquire him makes 2 years just fine. I think debrincat would take a "discount" to get to FA asap.

1X8. Best of luck in your future endeavors.

Why would he take 1X8 . When the sens have to offer him 1X9 ?

 

[Loach]

He hasn't played a game for us yet right?

 

[Sweatred]

Different situations.

Tkachuk and Fiala both knew that they were not going to re-sign with their former teams, were up front about it, and essentially navigated their way to their preferred destinations by limiting who they would talk extension with.

Huberdeau got a contract offer that he and his agent knew would not be matched in free-agency.

DeBrincat, from all reports, wanted to stay in Chicago and was not involved in any trade discussions. And we're not going to come in with a way over the top offer of $10.5M per.

I don’t think that’s accurate …

How could Huberdeau know what would be offered in UFA next season?

 

[JD1]

I don’t think that’s accurate …

How could Huberdeau know what would be offered in UFA next season?

So technically you're right, how could he know? He couldn't. He doesn't have a crystal ball.

But I think the general point is that Huberdeau was offered an incredible amount of money and there's far more downside risk than money potentially left on the table risk.

I think you understood the general point and your observation is a little eye rolling.

 

[DylanSensFan]

Definitely our best forward


Nah dude it’s terrible


Huh

I mean, next year's deadline. In year two of his time in Ottawa.

Act like what, he said he wants to see if he is a good fit on team.

My perspective is that he seems a lot like Matthew Tkatchuk. So if by next year he plays cat and mouse with us regarding a contract, then we trade him. I didn't mean this years.