Value of: Debrincat to the Hurricanes.

[Hale The Villain]

I agree that if a team is willing to sign him immediately the QO isn't an issue. But does DeBrincat want to sign coming off this season, or does he want to try to rebound and test the market?

Signing a long-term deal coming off a step back in his stats might not be what he wants. Which brings us back to the question of can a team fit his QO?

I'd love to see what he could do with Teravainen and Burns; two players who excel at finding players with good passes. But I don't think Carolina is likely to lock DeBrincat up long-term before seeing him play in Brind'Amour's system..

If a team is still willing to pay 7.5-8M on a 8YR deal for DeBrincat, his choice is:

Take the long-term extension immediately, get a guaranteed 60-64M over the next 8 years.

OR

Take the 1 year 9M QO in hopes of getting 8.5-9M on a 7YR deal, for a total of somewhere between 68.5-72M.

Is it worth giving up a guaranteed 60M+ to gamble on himself and potentially make an extra 8M or so over the next 8 years if he rebounds on a new team and gets back to his 40G scoring ways?

Gambling on yourself can pay off, but look at a guy like Klingberg as an example of how it can backfire. One down year is one thing, but if DeBrincat were to have another disappointing season in 23/24 that would mean a troubling trend that likely would see him being offered even less money than he'd get this off-season.