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The Chicago Blackhawks Will Always be the Winner in the Alex DeBrincat Trade With Ottawa for these Four Reasons

The Senators ended up with DeBrincat for a season. The Hawks appeared to have maximized the return they got for Alex.

By Todd Welter |
/ Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports
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General manager Kyle Davidson made a surprise trade in the summer of 2022 when he sent star forward Alex DeBrincat to the Ottawa Senators.

At the time, Davidson got pennies on the dollar for a forward with two 40-goal seasons and excellent chemistry with Patrick Kane. A first- and second-round pick and a 2024 third-round selection did not seem nearly enough of a return for an emerging superstar player. Especially a player who had yet to turn 25 at the time of the deal.

You would think Davidson wanted a player about to enter his prime performance years around for a rebuild.

Davidson had his reasons for making the trade. DeBrincat was in the last year of his deal and there was no guarantee Alex would sign long-term. In addition, the Blackhawks lacked a first-round choice in the 2022 draft after the Seth Jones deal in 2021. The rebuild would have been delayed significantly without a first-round choice.

Kyle from Chicago also was not afraid to move a young, emerging star player to obtain the necessary assets for an extensive rebuild. He traded Brandon Hagel before the deadline that year to pick up a ton of draft assets, so moving DeBrincat was not out of character.

It still was not a great return for a talented forward who scored 160 goals for the Hawks and was capable of complimenting Kane's immense offensive gifts. The Hawks could sure use DeBrincat right now with how awful the offense is.

Then again, in hindsight, the Chicago Blackhawks will always be the winner of this deal for these four reasons.

The Blackhawks got Kevin Korchinski in the deal.

The Hawks used the No. 7 pick to select the offensively gifted defenseman. Korchinski is now with the NHL club and has emerged as a cornerstone piece for the next great defensive unit. Korchinski was only supposed to be with the team for nine games this season before being sent back to the junior level.

He exceeded expectations to stay with the Hawks for the remainder of the season. He has had his ups and downs, but he is showing recently that he is starting to figure out the NHL game.

Korchinski also ended up being one of three first-round selections the Hawks made in the 2022 draft as Davidson swung two more trades. Davidson took center Frank Nazar III at No. 13 as part of the Kirby Dach trade and then defenseman Sam Rinzel at No. 25 as part of taking on Petr Mrazek's contract.

That draft haul is trending toward being a class that the next Hawks' Stanley Cup-winning team will be built upon.

The Blackhawks picked up an exciting prospect with the second-round pick they got in the deal.

Davidson drafted forward Paul Ludwinski with the 39th pick they got from the Senators. He is currently the Hawks' ninth-best prospect according to Sun-Times Blackhawks beat reporter Ben Pope. He is second among the Blackhawks prospects in points.

Ludwinski can be an amazing playmaker in the NHL. He might even be great enough to skate with Connor Bedard someday.

If Ludwinski develops like we hope Korchinski, Nazar, and Rinzel will develop, the 2022 draft will be cited as what helped make the Blackhawks a contender.

Speaking of Bedard, the trade allowed the Blackhawks to be enough to land the No. 1 overall pick.

The Blackhawks were not going to compete for a playoff spot with DeBrincat on last year's team. His scoring production with Patrick Kane might have been good enough to keep the Blackhawks from having the third-best odds of winning the NHL Draft Lottery.

Getting rid of DeBrincat weakened the Hawks. Then trading away Kane and the rest of the veterans before the deadline meant the Hawks only won five games to close out the season.

The tank season proved successful as the Blackhawks have a generational talent to build around. DeBrincat is a great player, but his talent is not on the level of Bedard. Alex is the second star on the team. Bedard is the main attraction.

The Senators only got one season from DeBrincat and did not make the playoffs.

Ottawa was not able to convince DeBrincat to sign long-term. The Senators were forced to trade Alex to the Detroit Red Wings in the offseason.

They got a good return that if they make the correct draft choices, then the Senators will mitigate how much they lost in the deal with the Blackhawks. Still, Ottawa's gamble did not pay off. They did not even make the playoffs last year.

Losing two premium assets, the player they hoped would turn around their fortunes, and not making the playoffs is a big reason the Senators will never be considered a winner in this deal.

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