We might not know what the exact situation is behind the scenes but we can all agree that it's not a good one based on the cold hard facts surrounding the situation.
- Debrincat has all the leverage here. If he gets traded he can pick and choose his destination based on his willingness to sign a contract.
- The Sens do not have enough cap space to bring him back and complete the roster for next year without making at least another trade to clear some cap.
- If he comes back, he's making approx 8M a year and needs to be traded by the deadline. How many contenders will have 8 M available to fit him in and what's the market for him at the deadline?
- The Sens are desperately trying to make the playoffs this year. Trading him at the deadline also becomes problematic because they'll need him if he's here or they'll need someone to replace him.
- If we go with the scenario that he comes back in Ottawa, what happens if he gets an injury that takes him out for the year? Sens lose him for nothing and we've seen a big injury with Norris just last season.
Honestly all the pressure is on Ottawa here. I'm a Sens fan and I hate to say it but the worst possible scenario has materialized. Not only is DBC not willing to re-sign but he also only wants to sign in select places, most of them are not interested in him or can't fit him. Not only that, but the cap situation for this season is not helping anyone. He had an average season for his standards which brings the price lower and we just saw 2 teams hammer each other in the finals, what do you give for a smaller winger? This mixture of Dorion lack of foresight, bad luck, DBC leverage, average production last season and etc is the perfect storm against the Sens.
I don't blame teams for playing hardball. There is virtually no market for Debrincat at this stage. A team will acquire a really really good young player for pennies on the dollar here. If I'm Yzerman I have no problem waiting until arbitration and telling Dorion listen this is the deal take it or leave it, it's probably the best deal you will have from this point on and risk only increases for Ottawa going forward. I'll sign DBC in free agency next year if I can and I move on with my roster for the year. If you don't then good luck making things fit for next season