Ottawa Senators right winger Alex DeBrincat. Marc DesRosiers-USA TODAY Sports

Two teams reportedly battling to acquire Alex DeBrincat

By Michael Gallagher | Last updated 7/6/23

It appears it’s a matter of when, not if, the Ottawa Senators will trade star forward Alex DeBrincat.

While many teams have inquired about trading for the 25-year-old forward, according to Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek, it appears there are just two finalists vying for DeBrincat’s services.

“As (of Tuesday) … it sounds like the two team that are in the DeBrincat sweepstakes are the Detroit Red Wings and the New York Islanders,” Marek said on Tuesday’s “The Jeff Marek Show.” “That’s where we’re at.”

Obviously, Alex DeBrincat to Red Wings remains possible. Detroit has cap space, draft picks, young players, and location edge over other teams, including Islanders. But NY would be best place to win now. pic.twitter.com/QmUQpFKJpy
— Pat Caputo (@patcaputo98) July 5, 2023

DeBrincat, who’s due a qualifying offer of $9M, has indicated he doesn’t want to resign with the Senators. If a team were to offer sheet DeBrincat, a two-time 40-goal scorer, they would have to give Ottawa two first-round picks, a second-round pick and a third-round pick. The Senators, of course, could match any offer sheet and retain him.

Although he doesn’t have any no-trade or no-movement protection, DeBrincat does have some says in where he’s shipped as any team acquiring him would certainly want to work out a contract extension before parting ways with the assets the Senators will want in return.

“I’ve maintained that I don’t see a way that Alex DeBrincat doesn’t end up a member of the Detroit Red Wings, and I still kind of feel that way, even though at times it’s looked like he wasn’t going to end up a member of the Detroit Red Wings,” Marek added. “I still think that there’s still interest from the New York Islanders. That one would be a pretty sizeable deal considering the numbers involved and how up against the salary cap the Islanders are.”

Per CapFriendly, the Islanders have just $387,500 in cap space while the Red Wings have $9.89M.

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