No matter how much Patrick Kane may root for Alex DeBrincat — and how much Kane has mentored his Chicago Blackhawks teammate and watched him blossom playing on his line — it couldn’t have been easy for a competitor like Kane to say it.
“He’s the guy who was most deserving of our team and he’s been our best player this year, so it’s fitting he’s going to the All-Star Game for sure,” said Kane, a four-time All-Star himself.
DeBrincat doesn’t see it that way.
“We have a couple of guys who probably could’ve (gone), but it’s an honor for sure and I’m excited to go do that and represent the Blackhawks,” he said about his first All-Star selection.
It’s not so much a changing of the guard — “Obviously he’s the engine, right?” coach Derek King said about Kane — but DeBrincat has entered another stratosphere in the NHL firmament. He’s no longer a really good sidekick playing opposite an all-time great.
DeBrincat has arrived.
“I don’t really think about it too much,” he said. “Just trying to get better each day and help the team win.”
His would-be inclusion on the U.S. Olympic roster — before the NHL pulled out of next month’s Beijing Games — and last week’s All-Star selection have confirmed that notion for anyone who didn’t already get the memo. And DeBrincat leveled up on his already impressive credentials the last two weeks.
It started with a three-game stretch two weeks ago in which he scored four goals. Last week he added another two goals and three assists in three games, showing he can create offense for others as much as he receives it.
On Saturday, DeBrincat set up Kane — for a change — on Kane’s power-play goal during a 3-0 win against the Anaheim Ducks.
“He had a step on the guy, so I wouldn’t have been too surprised if he took that shot,” Kane said. “He made a great stick as their defenseman kind of lunged at him and put it under his stick and had a wide-open net.”
Kane got to finish off the give-and-go that time, and he insisted those kind of setups with his usual rush partner aren’t as one-sided as many think.
“Obviously he faked the goaltender (Lukas Dostal) out because he was out of the net, but he has that ability,” Kane said. “He’s given me a lot of great passes, a lot of great looks this year, to be honest with you. I just haven’t finished them for him, so nice to put that one away.”
DeBrincat is one point from matching the season-high 10 he recorded in November, and he’s only halfway through the month.
Entering Sunday night’s schedule, he ranked fifth in the league with 23 goals in 38 games. He’s on pace to score 49 goals.
Three seasons ago in 2018-19, DeBrincat caught the hockey world’s attention with 41 goals and 35 assists in 82 games.
But he dipped to 18 goals and 27 assists in 70 games the next season and invited speculation that maybe he had only one magical year in him.
He rediscovered his scoring touch with 32 goals during last season’s 52-game schedule, a 50-goal pace, and he’s scoring at a similar rate this season.
King has called DeBrincat a “natural” shooter, but Kane emphasized how much “passion” DeBrincat puts into his game in the offseason and during practices.
“You always see him on the ice early, working on his shot, working on whatever, always on the ice late doing the same type of thing,” Kane said. “I don’t think it’s for any other reason than the fact he enjoys the game so much.
“When you have someone that good and they love the game and want to work hard, you’re going to see the results you’re seeing with Brinksy.”
DeBrincat, 24, reflected on how he reached this point in his career.
He joined an enviable roster with playoff-hardened veterans such as Kane, Jonathan Toews, Brent Seabrook and Patrick Sharp.
Sharp made him feel like he belonged.
“Sometimes it’s hard making the shift from juniors to the NHL and you’re feeling down on yourself,” DeBrincat said. “He’s always a guy who’d take that extra second to say there’s a reason why you’re here, you’re a great player, you just need to play your game.”
These days, DeBrincat takes counsel from player development adviser Chris Kunitz, whose 15-year NHL career ended with the Hawks in 2019.
“Kunitz has been huge for me,” DeBrincat said. “He thinks the game very well, and I talked to him a lot when he was on the team. And as a coach, he helps me see things maybe I wouldn’t see.
“There are so many people, I could list off a bunch of people. The coaching staff always is great to me and really wants me to improve. That’s a lot of people is my answer, I guess.”
