Alex DeBrincat Sitaution a Win-Win

I just wanted to take a brief moment today to write up a few final thoughts I have on the Alex DeBrincat trade rumors. First of all, I understand there are some who are saying they are just rumors, but realistically, with the amount of coverage and attention this bit of news is receiving, it's not really fair to just call it a rumor for the time being. It feels like this is going to happen sooner than later.

The best news of all of this is that according to Elliote Friedman, the Blackhawks should be able to get a significant package in return for DeBrincat. My favorite Blackhawks Twitter follow, Mario Tirabassi of CHGO, posited about a week ago, which I referenced in my article about trade possibilities for DeBrincat, that sending the winger to New Jersey would get the Blackhawks in return the #2 overall pick this year AT MINIMUM. Due to many of the advantages I laid out in my "Case for Keeping DeBrincat" article, he is an attractive player to teams. And teams that are on the cusp of competing for the Stanley Cup would be willing to give up a ton for DeBrincat.

This is a reassuring thing to keep in mind. Friedman goes as far to suggest that the Blackhawks could "hurt a team" in a trade for DeBrincat. Sounds to me like they could just take whatever they want. In a weird way, the Blackhawks seem to be the ones with power at the table, even though they are the rebuilding team. But as Mario points out, worst case scenario is the Blackhawks have to keep DeBrincat, which I explained in my "Case for..." article the advantages to keeping him. Keeping DeBrincat is just as valuable, or potentially more valuable than draft picks, because you never truly know what draft picks can amount to.

The Blackhawks are in a rare win-win situation and I expect to get even more of a feeling as the Cup Finals draw to a close and the NHL Draft draws near.