Player Discussion Alex DeBrincat

[Hale The Villain]

Red flags were raised for me when I watched how he scored his goals last year.

Felt like 80% of them were off of excellent set-ups from Kane, even if he finished them off well.

Benefitted tremendously from playing with the best American forward of all time.

He's been extremely unlucky this year but still he's nowhere near as good a player as some people were characterizing him as when we traded for him.

 

[Hale The Villain]

Right now I don't pay him a penny over $7.5 million. He just doesn't score enough goals to warrant it and we literally can't take a risk like that when we need to make hard decisions about cap allocation. I don't care if his qualifying offer is $9 million, trade his ass if he think's he's worth that based off current produciton

Will be interesting if he doesn't turn it around this year.

Maybe instead of signing a long-term deal for far less than he thinks he's worth he just takes his 9M qualifying offer, whether from us or another team, and then tries to set himself up for a big UFA payday if he can recover his scoring touch.

 

[bicboi64]

Will be interesting if he doesn't turn it around this year.

Maybe instead of signing a long-term deal for far less than he thinks he's worth he just takes his 9M qualifying offer, whether from us or another team, and then tries to set himself up for a big UFA payday if he can recover his scoring touch.

I'm wondering if he does that $9 million QO with his hometown team of Detroit. They have the capspace to sign him and to acquire him from us. They've got loads of pieces that I'd love to pry. Not sure if Yzerman would bite though.

 

[Samsquanch]

I'm wondering if he does that $9 million QO with his hometown team of Detroit. They have the capspace to sign him and to acquire him from us. They've got loads of pieces that I'd love to pry. Not sure if Yzerman would bite though.

It's possible but the rumours in Ottawa are that he and his wife are loving it there so far.

He strikes me as the type of guy that doesn't do well with big change. If his family is comfortable and hes having fun at the rink, I actually think we may end up getting a bit of a (new) home team discount from him at the end of the day. Especially when he sees everyone signing long term and the positive direction the franchise is heading in.

Detroit is legit a shithole city by comparison, especially if your a young family thats not looking for any kind of nightlife or to live in a posh downtown condo in highrise building.

There are rich suburb areas and some good neighborhoods in and around Detriot, but you have to drive through some very rough areas no matter where your going in the city. You can't avoid it as resident anymore.

 

[bicboi64]

It's possible but the rumours in Ottawa are that he and his wife are loving it there so far.

He strikes me as the type of guy that doesn't do well with big change. If his family is comfortable and hes having fun at the rink, I actually think we may end up getting a bit of a (new) home team discount from him at the end of the day. Especially when he sees everyone signing long term and the positive direction the franchise is heading in.

I can only imagine Cat buying into this notion of a positive direction is if new ownership cleans house the minute they arrive. Can't imagine Cat will want to play on a roster with such a crap blue line and bottom 6. The gamble of having a top heavy team hasn't seemed to work and not sure the team culture/direction as it is will ne enough to convince him to buy in and not pursue a deal above is qualifying offer

 

[coladin]

The thing is if he had 6 more goals on all his chances (ie extremely possible considering the bad luck we've seen with our own eyes and his shooting percentage) in this tiny sample size of his here on a new team - he absolutely would be looking an $8M+ player. One hot streak and he's right where he needs to be.

The guy hussles all over. I have non Sens friends that always comment om him postively when they watch him with me. He's not invisible at all. He is in fact a play driver - and not a one dimensional sniper. That's a good thing.

And I would absolutely trade Batherson first in a deal/relief for a dman over Debrincat. Not even remotely close imo.

And the team would be at least .500 in the standings. Today, for instance. He does what he does, telegraphs passes , and this one actually went in. Then , misses another open net.

If NSH ties the game, do we fire the coach ? Absolute coach killer

 

[Adele Dazeem]

Yeah I'd flip him if we can snag a solid young RHD

 

[Samsquanch]

I can only imagine Cat buying into this notion of a positive direction is if new ownership cleans house the minute they arrive. Can't imagine Cat will want to play on a roster with such a crap blue line and bottom 6. The gamble of having a top heavy team hasn't seemed to work and not sure the team culture/direction as it is will ne enough to convince him to buy in and not pursue a deal above is qualifying offer

Believe it or not, but the players love DJ Smith. He's a players coach and one that tries hard to make it fun to come to the rink for his players.

And DJ often gives DeBrincat the most minutes of any forward during on any given night. He's having a great time other than being down on himself for not putting more pucks in the net. But he's getting put into good spots to succeed, and I promise you he doesn't think it's the teams fault for his low goal count so far.

And It's pretty hilarious that you actually think he's stewing at home about the roster, and that he will sulk his way into FA if he doesn't see an organizational teardown happen first .

The guy was more than happy to be a part of the Chicago rebuild. And Ottawa is a lot closer to finishing theirs than Chicago is.

 

[Super Cake]

Believe it or not, but the players love DJ Smith. He's a players coach and one that tries hard to make it fun to come to the rink for his players.

And DJ often gives DeBrincat the most minutes of any forward during on any given night. He's having a great time other than being down on himself for not putting more pucks in the net. But he's getting put into good spots to succeed, and I promise you he doesn't think it's the teams fault for his low goal count so far.

And It's pretty hilarious that you actually think he's stewing at home about the roster, and that he will sulk his way into FA if he doesn't see an organizational teardown happen first .

The guy was more than happy to be a part of the Chicago rebuild. And Ottawa is a lot closer to finishing theirs than Chicago is.

It is fine being nice to players, but i honestly believe that players sometimes need a kick in the ass whenever they play bad. Smith might just not have it in him. I know another coach (Gallant) that is like this and he got fired from 2 teams and might end up getting fired from his 3rd team because of it.

I still think this roster has potential to be real good. Just needs a new voice.

On Debrincat, i am unsure about what to do. Maybe a new coach can get him back going again. But i just don't know if i would give him 10 million at this point in time.

 

[Samsquanch]

It is fine being nice to players, but i honestly believe that players sometimes need a kick in the ass whenever they play bad. Smith might just not have it in him. I know another coach (Gallant) that is like this and he got fired from 2 teams and might end up getting fired from his 3rd team because of it.

I still think this roster has potential to be real good. Just needs a new voice.

On Debrincat, i am unsure about what to do. Maybe a new coach can get him back going again. But i just don't know if i would give him 10 million at this point in time.

Well I was responding to someone who said that Debrincat wants to see heads roll before resigning here......lmao.

Not debating if we need a coach to be harder on him and the players for this team to win more games. That's still TBD imo. But I highly doubt that Alex thinks he would be doing better if he was getting yelled at more by his coach...

And I don't think anyone in the league would offer the Cat $10m/per - so hopefully his agent will not be dumb and suggest something so silly if hes serious about staying. $8 something was always the number and his play this season will determine that number after the decimal point.

 

[JD1]

I can only imagine Cat buying into this notion of a positive direction is if new ownership cleans house the minute they arrive. Can't imagine Cat will want to play on a roster with such a crap blue line and bottom 6. The gamble of having a top heavy team hasn't seemed to work and not sure the team culture/direction as it is will ne enough to convince him to buy in and not pursue a deal above is qualifying offer

Wow. There's a ton wrong with this post. Where to start.

Unless DeBrincat manages to pot 40 goals from now to the end of the year, there's no path to pursue a deal above his qualifying offer. None. Scoring is up. DeBrincat isn't scoring. We have a top 10 PP in the league. That's without DeBrincat scoring. There's absolutely zero argument here that some opposing GM might think that if I only I could surround DeBrincat with better players on PP1. He's had all the opportunity in the world. If he was actually scoring A. We'd have a top 5 PP and B. We'd have several more points in the bank.

The top heavy gamble is missing 3 players to make it work. We're missing our 1C. We're missing our 2C because he's playing 1C. The guy playing 2C isn't ready for it and as a result, we're having 2nd and 3rd line scoring challenges. The league doesn't work very well when you have a guy playing 3C that should otherwise be a 4C or a healthy scratch. Apart from all of the overslotting, there's Formenton's absence and zero replacement. We were looking at a Formenton Pinto Joseph 3rd line. Haven't seen it yet and we won't see it. Motte is playing 3rd line as a result and he's overslotted. It's got nothing to do with the gamble having not worked, it's that the roster of July 5th has never played a game together and won't. Apart from that, there's another argument that the underlying stats are all in our favour suggesting the gamble is working (even with the over slotting) but the results are not there

And then there's the crap D. I think every player in the room knows what they have in Sanderson and a little more maturity is needed for him to take over as the top defensive LD. That's going to help a lot.

Cycling back to the qualifying offer. Players know where they stand within a team. They know damn well. They also know who has what contract. We've got Tkachuk, Stuetzle and Norris signed long term. What exactly would make DeBrincat feel at this point that he's worthy of a 15% pay increase on top of that trio? And if he believes that in his heart of hearts, then I hope our mgmt does the right thing and moves him at the TDL.

 

[aragorn]

Two things:
1. Giroux is 35 yrs old on a 3 yr contract & it's likely his last. Ottawa will need a good RW to fill in his spot once he starts to decline although these days he is playing great. DeBrincat is a right shot & could be the obvious choice to replace him at RW.

DeBrincat right now is not worth $8 mil & probably closer to $6 mil & there is no guarantee he will be able to return to being a 40 goal scorer although he has been getting a million opportunities. If they could get him to sign for 5 or 6 yrs for $7-$7.5 mil it might be worth it to keep him around when Giroux finally hangs them up.

2. DeBrincat is likely a very valuable piece to trade for that missing top 4 RD. He's 26 yrs old now & I wouldn't want to trade the younger forwards that have more potential IMO. Do we want a great top nine or do we need a top 4 RD more, that is the question at this time?

If Ottawa could find one or two big tough defensive defencemen to fit into this lineup that can reduce the goals against & be very hard to play against & drop the gloves when needed they wouldn't need to trade DeBrincat. They need to improve their bottom six & bottom pair D to improve this team & the goalies can't let in soft goals. They need to be better too when required.

 

[Big Muddy]

Would be interesting to see if Debrincat signs at $8.25 m (Brady, etc. money) or over, or below that. Kind of a Vegas over/under betting scenario.

 

[Icelevel]

Playing a bit better lately.

 

[bicboi64]

Has any player in recent memory took a long term deal below their qualifying offer on their 3rd NHL deal?

 

[HSF]

sign him before he drops 40 goals

Has any player in recent memory took a long term deal below their qualifying offer on their 3rd NHL deal?

Boeser but not long term

The QO does not really mean you will get that long term though. Timo Meier is not getting 10 per long term. Long terms deals should be a lower cap unless of course they are really good

 

[DaveMatthew]

Has any player in recent memory took a long term deal below their qualifying offer on their 3rd NHL deal?

In fairness, having an escalating actual salary (or a de-escalating one) is a fairly recent thing in the NHL. Before, it used to be pretty simple. If you got 6 years and $36M you made $6M every year for 6 years.

But a $9M QO doesn't guarantee anyone $9M+ on a long-term deal. Debrincat has to produce. If he scores 28 goals this year and next, he's not getting it.

 

[CorrectOpinion]

This guy is getting back to his game and I am seeing someone who not only puts up points but can drive the play.

 

[Wondercarrot]

It’s getting warmer in here!

 

[Xspyrit]

No matter how he plays, he's still the guy we'll have to trade :

Tim Stutzle $8,350,000
Brady Tkachuk $8,205,714
Josh Norris $7,950,000
Drake Batherson $4,975,000

Shane Pinto RFA in 2023-24
Ridly Greig RFA in 2025-26
Alex Formenton : we have no idea about his future
Other prospects?

And Claude Giroux at $6,500,000 for 2 more seasons.

Batherson should not be traded, we're saving like 3M$ per season with his deal.

Norris and Stutzle are the top centers, Brady is the unicorn power forward captain. None of them will be traded

So almost 30 M$ for 4 forwards. The Leafs "big 4" is 40 M$ in comparison.

If DeBrincat is signed at 9M$ (let's say), then our top-4 most expensive forwards becomes 33.5 M$ and really not as good/prolific as the Leafs top-4

DeBrincat is a luxury we can't afford, we need to invest that money in improving the RD and bottom-6

Like I mentioned before, I take Paul, Brown and a Top-4 RHD over the 15 M$ we spend on DeBrincat, Joseph and Hamonic. We'd even have money to add another good top-9 winger.

It's been proven countless times that "top heavy" lineups don't work anymore in today's NHL. Look at the Leafs, heavy at the top, still can't get out at the first round. They have worked really hard to improve the rest of the roster.

But yet, Dorion fell in that trap, like he fell in the "Oilers trap" of not having quality veterans before...

 

[Big Muddy]

This guy is getting back to his game and I am seeing someone who not only puts up points but can drive the play.

True, but I'd still like to see more 5 vs. 5 (even strength) goal production. He's been productive on the PP though.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

No harm waiting until the end of the season to decide what to do with him. See what he does in a full year of play.

Is it a case where it takes a while to adjust to a new team, system and city? Is he a product of Kane? Is he just streaky? The answers will be a fair bit clearer after the season is over.

 

[HSF]

No matter how he plays, he's still the guy we'll have to trade :

Tim Stutzle $8,350,000
Brady Tkachuk $8,205,714
Josh Norris $7,950,000
Drake Batherson $4,975,000

Shane Pinto RFA in 2023-24
Ridly Greig RFA in 2025-26
Alex Formenton : we have no idea about his future
Other prospects?

And Claude Giroux at $6,500,000 for 2 more seasons.

Batherson should not be traded, we're saving like 3M$ per season with his deal.

Norris and Stutzle are the top centers, Brady is the unicorn power forward captain. None of them will be traded

So almost 30 M$ for 4 forwards. The Leafs "big 4" is 40 M$ in comparison.

If DeBrincat is signed at 9M$ (let's say), then our top-4 most expensive forwards becomes 33.5 M$ and really not as good/prolific as the Leafs top-4

DeBrincat is a luxury we can't afford, we need to invest that money in improving the RD and bottom-6

Like I mentioned before, I take Paul, Brown and a Top-4 RHD over the 15 M$ we spend on DeBrincat, Joseph and Hamonic. We'd even have money to add another good top-9 winger.

It's been proven countless times that "top heavy" lineups don't work anymore in today's NHL. Look at the Leafs, heavy at the top, still can't get out at the first round. They have worked really hard to improve the rest of the roster.

But yet, Dorion fell in that trap, like he fell in the "Oilers" trap of not having quality veterans before...

Sens can make it work. The leafs are still very very good and got screwed by a flat cap. The cap is expected to reach 90 mill in a couple of years. The leafs will be adding

 

[Xspyrit]

Sens can make it work. The leafs are still very very good and got screwed by a flat cap. The cap is expected to reach 90 mill in a couple of years. The leafs will be adding

We'll see with new ownership but damn that's a lot of money

 

[HSF]

We'll see with new ownership but damn that's a lot of money

Ya for sure it depends on ownership but almost have to spend to the cap if you want to be competitive for a while