Sens' DeBrincat eyeing Meier contract, with suitors offering less
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As the NHL off-season continues, the Ottawa Senators are searching for a landing spot for winger Alex DeBrincat, who is unwilling to sign with the club long-term.
Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia reports the Senators have given DeBrincat's agent permission to negotiate with at least three teams regarding an extension, but his price appears to be too high for all of them.
TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger said on the Ray and Dregs Podcast that the winger is looking for a contract similar to the one Timo Meier signed with the New Jersey Devils last week - eight years, $70.2 million, with an average annual value of $8.775 million. Dreger notes, however, that acquiring teams see DeBrincat's value as being close to Jesper Bratt, who inked an eight-year, $63 million contract with the Devils, carrying a cap hit of $7.875 million.
“If that’s holding up a trade, and it sounds like it might be, then it’s got to be up to Alex DeBrincat to reconsider or maybe he stays in Ottawa,” Dreger said.
DeBrincat is a restricted free agent, but is ineligible for an offer sheet after the Senators filed for club-elected salary arbitration last month.
The 25-year-old had 27 goals and 66 points in 82 games this past season. Senators general manager Pierre Dorion acknowledged prior to last week's draft that he expects DeBrincat's production to rise closer to his career average next season.
“If he comes back to us, we know he had 27 goals, but whether he plays for us or plays for another team, we know he’s going to get 40 to 45 goals again,” Dorion said.
DeBrincat was acquired by the Senators in July of 2022 during the NHL Draft from the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for three draft picks, including the seventh overall selection.
The 5-foot-7 winger was drafted 39th overall by the Blackhawks in the 2016 NHL Draft and has 187 goals and 373 points in 450 career games split between the Blackhawks and Senators. He has cracked the 40-goal mark twice in his NHL career.