Senators’ Alex DeBrincat, One and Done?

The 2023 version of last year’s “Hot Summer of Pierre” begins largely hazy for Senators General Manager Pierre Dorion.

Dorion’s huge acquisition that kickstarted the 2022 Senators’ offseason, forward Alex DeBrincat has made it clear through his agent, Jeff Jackson, he won’t re-sign long-term in Ottawa.

Jackson indicated this to the Senators one week ago per Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch.

TSN insider Pierre LeBrun doubled down Wednesday evening, going as far as to say Jackson submitted a list of preferred teams his client will accept a trade to.

DeBrincat’s current contract doesn’t possess any no-trade limitations. However, if Dorion is to gain the best value for his club, the Senators GM will have little choice in probing these teams to gauge interest in whether or not they’re prepared to acquire the diminutive left wing in what’s likely a sign-and-trade situation. This sounds eerily similar to the situation that played out last July to that of the Florida Panthers acquisition of Matthew Tkachuk from the Calgary Flames.

The Flames signed Tkachuk to an eight-year extension, then shipped him to the Sunshine State in exchange for Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar.

The Senators and their fans had high expectations for the Detroit area resident upon the announcement of the jaw-dropping trade mere hours prior to the Entry Draft last July 7. Who can blame them? The then 24-year-old left Chicago fresh off the throes of his second 41-goal season in four years.

Dorion paid a hefty, but reasonable price to procure an up-and-coming bright star.

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The Senators sent their 2022 seventh overall and second-round pick along with a 2024 third to Blackhawks.

Eligible to sign an extension since July 13, the team and the player wanted to test the waters of their potential future partnership first.

From the start, Alex DeBrincat said it would be an adjustment to move his family to Ottawa. And he reiterated this after a somewhat disappointing 2022-23 campaign.

DeBrincat explained this at the Senators end of season media availability.

“I think (there were) ups and downs. It was obviously an adjustment coming here – changed up pretty much everything. Even outside the rink, it’s a little different for my family.”

On the ice, his season was filled with inconsistency. Alex DeBrincat recorded a career-high 39 assists, launching 263 shots on goal. However, his 10.3 shooting percentage was 5.2 points below his previous five-year average; not to mention his minus-31 on the defensive side of things. DeBrincat was a minus-14 over his 368 games in total with the Blackhawks.

Held to 27 goals, fourth-most among Senators’ players, the former Ontario League Erie Otter, started the season slowly – not able to find chemistry with anointed linemates Josh Norris/Claude Giroux. Only five games in, Norris injured his shoulder and underwent surgery. Shane Pinto was elevated to line two centre. Lines shifted again.

“I felt towards the end of the year, I found more consistency in my game. Tried to find that space to kind of play my game and stay within the system to be effective. Maybe I kind of struggled with it at the beginning of the year, where that middle ground was? But that was the best way to describe it. Hopefully, this will make me better for next year,” DeBrincat told assembled media on April 14.

Moving the pending restricted free agent immediately becomes a top priority for Dorion. The GM indicated previously he’ll formally send a qualifying offer to DeBrincat which is $9 million for the 2023-24 season – an offer he’ll likely accept, barring a change of heart.

With the deadline for issuing qualifying offers on June 30, the race is officially on.

Depending on which team piques interest, trade offers may vary.

The Senators GM has a modest to-do list this offseason which opens sooner than later, with the Entry Draft slated for June 28-29. Dorion is seeking to bolster his bottom-six forward core, add another preferably seasoned netminder, and draw back into the first three rounds of the Draft, as the team is minus a pick until Round Four.

Assets such as these could be acquired as part of a potential Alex DeBrincat swap. But moving the “Cat” also forces the GM’s hand to find a second-line replacement.

A player of this ilk can be acquired in trade or via unrestricted free agency on July 1.

Taking into account, the Senators must sign RFA’s Erik Brannstrom, Jacob Bernard-Docker, and Shane Pinto, combined with the likelihood of forwards Ridly Greig and recently-signed Jiri Smejkal cracking the roster, the club should have $8-9 million remaining on their cap to garner assets.

So in three weeks or less, we’re about to see how hot Pierre Dorion’s summer will be.