Detroit Red Wings acquire Alex DeBrincat from Ottawa Senators, sign him to four-year contract with $7.875 AAV

The Detroit Red Wings have acquired winger Alex DeBrincat from the Ottawa Senators in exchange for winger Dominik Kubalik, defenseman Donovan Sebrango, a conditional first-round pick, and a 2024 fourth-round pick.

The Red Wings then signed DeBrincat to a four-year contract with a $7.875 million contract. DeBrincat, 25, was a restricted free agent after the conclusion of his three-year contract with a $6.4 million cap hit that he originally signed with the Chicago Blackhawks. His new contract has him tied for the 68th-highest cap hit with Kevin Fiala, Jesper Bratt, Victor Hedman, and Nick Suzuki.

DeBrincat ranked fifth on Frank Seravalli’s most recent Trade Targets Board that was released before the draft, and was third among the remaining players on the board after Connor Hellebuyck and Elias Lindholm. It seemed a matter of when, not if, he was going to be dealt this offseason, and the Red Wings appeared to be the frontrunners for most of the summer, with the lack of leverage being a big reason why the Senators couldn’t get more in the deal.

DeBrincat had a down year in Ottawa for the 2022-23 season with 27 goals, 39 assists, and 66 points in 82 games, a bit off from the 41-goal, 78-point season he had in 2021-22. DeBrincat was a second-round pick of the Blackhawks in 2016, and spent five seasons in Chicago before he was dealt to the Senators in 2022.

Kubalik, 27, had a bounce-back season in Detroit, with 20 goals, 25 assists, and 45 points in 81 games in 2022-23, the first time he’s eclipsed 45 points since his rookie season in 2019-20. He was a seventh-round pick of the Los Angeles Kings in 2013, but started his pro career with five seasons in Europe before he signed with the Blackhawks in 2019 after they had acquired his rights. He spent three seasons in Chicago before the Blackhawks elected not to qualify him, and he signed with the Red Wings in free agency.

Sebrango, 21, is a prospect defenseman that the Red Wings drafted in the third round of the 2020 draft. He has yet to play an NHL game, and had four goals, three assists, and seven points in 39 games with the Grand Rapids Griffins in the AHL, and 1 goal, 11 assists, and 12 points in 23 games with the Toledo Walleye in the ECHL.

The conditions of the first-round pick depend on which of their two 2024 picks that they want to keep between their own and the Boston Bruins’, although they will likely go with the higher of the two picks. However, the Bruins pick is also conditional with top-10 protection and the Wings will instead get the Bruins 2025 pick, so the Wings can then choose between that pick and their 2024 pick to send to the Senators instead.