DeBrincat was one of the first players that the Chicago Blackhawks had moved to kick off their top-to-bottom rebuild, which ultimately landed them Connor Bedard with the 1st overall pick this past June.
At the time, the Senators were believed to be a team on the cusp of taking that next step. Adding a player as dynamic as DeBrincat was considered to be a move that could yield excellent results and help propel the Sens back into the playoff picture. However, things didn't work out that way and the Sens finished 6th in the Atlantic Division and 21st in the overall league standings.
DeBrincat did not seem overly enthused about being in Ottawa last season and refused to sign an extension with the Sens, which didn't sit too well with his teammates. Now that he has been moved to the Detroit Red Wings, his former teammates in Ottawa are ready to move on and forget all about him, but not without a parting shot from one of the team's young stars in Tim Stutzle.
The Sens ended up replacing the departing DeBrincat with veteran sniper Vladimir Tarasenko, who joined the team as a free agent. They also took a significant loss on DeBrincat. The Sens had originally given up the 7th overall pick in 2022, the 39th overall pick in 2022 and a 3rd round pick in 2024. They got back only a conditional 1st round pick in 2024, veteran forward Dominik Kubalik, a B prospect and a 4th round pick in 2024.
I don't think many are betting that the Senators will be better without DeBrincat in 2023-24, so perhaps this is just sour grapes on Stutzle's part.
POLL | ||
SEPTEMBRE 9 | 180 ANSWERS Tim Stutzle fires a shot at a former Senators teammate following his trade out of Ottawa Will the Senators be better or worse in 2023-24 than they were last year? | ||
Better | 129 | 71.7 % |
Worse | 16 | 8.9 % |
About the same | 35 | 19.4 % |
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