However, I'm beginning to see why he did this as the Blackhawks have begun their full rebuilding phase. According to PuckEmpire, Debrincat has a $9 million qualifying offer attached to him. I think Davidson felt it was necessary to move this player to the Senators to get out from under that $9 million deal and let the Senators handle him.
Interestingly, the Senators do not have a long-term deal already in place for the 25-year-old right winger. With the impending sale of the Senators in the next few weeks.
I feel that Ottawa Senators general manager Pierre Dorion is doing the right thing by qualifying him as they can retain his rights up until the NHL draft in which they can trade his rights to another team and recoup a few assets if need be.
It will also depend on what the new ownership group feels about which direction the team needs to go. Whether it's continuing their rebuild process or retaining a star like Debrincat and continuing to build around him.
Debrincat was moved to the Senators in exchange for the 7th overall along with the 39th draft choice in 2022 and a third-round pick in 2023.
The Blackhawks selected defensive prospect Kevin Korchinski in the first round.
POLL | ||
AVRIL 11 | 165 ANSWERS Debrincat about to hit the Mega Millions this summer. Will the Senators sign Alex Debrincat to a long term deal this summer? | ||
Yes | 76 | 46.1 % |
No | 89 | 53.9 % |
List of polls |