Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet: Alex DeBrincat has indicated that he’s not interested in signing a long-term contract extension with the Ottawa Senators until the ownership situation is over according to multiple sources.
Speculation yesterday was that the Senators are seeing what the trade market will be for the pending RFA winger.
He’s owed a $9 million qualifying offer, and the Sens are looking at all options including going to salary arbitration.
There would be plenty of trade interest in the two-time 40-goal scorer.
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Shawn Simpson: The Senators gave up the seventh overall pick in the 2022 NHL draft for DeBrincat.
He made $9 million last year, recording 27 goals and 66 points. He was a -31.
Shawn Simpson: The Senators are maybe hoping to find a trade similar to the one that sent Matthew Tkachuk to the Panthers with a contract extension in place.
Shawn Simpson: If the Senators do trade DeBrincat this offseason, they better get a good return or they may not make the playoffs next season.
Trading for DeBrincat last year was a flashy, risky move.
Thomas Drance: “DeBrincat is a fantastic player, and his trade value given his $9 million QO is going to be modest enough to absolutely shock people.”
Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun: League sources confirmed Monday that Alex DeBrincat and his agent Jeff Jackson have told the organization that they aren’t ready to discuss a long-term deal yet.
A source said that DeBrincat isn’t sure yet if he’s wanting to play the next eight years in Canada. The Senators need to know soon.
DeBrincat is from Michigan and his name has been attached to the Red Wings.
He’s a year away from being a UFA, so if he won’t re-sign, they need to look at moving him. It’s believed the Senators have started talking to teams about potential returns.
The Senators ownership situation is weeks away from being resolved.
Sens GM Pierre Dorion has said that they will qualify him at $9 million. If they decided to take him to arbitration, they can ask for 15% less than the $9 million.
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“We would elect to go to arb and ask for a 15% drop on his qualifying offer,” Dorion said. “You look at other teams and they’ve done this in the past. I’m just trying to give our fans as much information as possible because if something like this happens, we’re all in a business here.
“If we see that we can’t get anything done, we have to do what’s best for the team because we’re most likely going to be a cap team next year. At $7.85 million instead of $9 million for Alex DeBrincat, that maybe helps us to sign another player that we want to get.”