NEWSLETTER
In an appearance on “Halford and Brough in the Morning” Thursday, Frank Seravalli of Daily faceoff spoke on a number of Blackhawks topics including the future of Kyle Davidson and the potential hire of President of Hockey Operations, which we discussed earlier today. But he also reached his hand out towards the hot stove, sharing which Blackhawks he believes are “untouchable” and not on the trade market. And that came with a pretty big surprise
Of course the names like Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane were on his list, and he also also Seth Jones (likely because his extension is going to be one of the most difficult contracts to move, if the Blackhawks ever wanted to do so, in the NHLÂ (Remember Brent Seabrook’s deal?)).
But it is the name that Seravalli believes is NOT untouchable on that list that caught me off guard: Alex DeBrincat.
The guy that I got circled there that is going to be an interesting conversation is Alex DeBrincat. He’s a guy that has scored at will, it seems. Has one more year left on his deal at $6.4M and then at the end of it is a restricted free agent. He’s got 23 goals this season, a pretty significant pace that he is playing at, and my sense is that the Blackhawks know they need to shake things up and I think the general consensus is that Toews, Kane, and Seth Jones are the three untouchables. If you’d like to take a run at Alex DeBrincat, at KubalÃk, at Brandon Hagel, or at Ryan Carpenter, go down the list and they are all potentially available.
I certainly can’t imagine why DeBrincat would be a trade piece for the Blackhawks, since he’s pretty much the only player that is under 25-years-old worth a damn to the organization. It’s not like 50-goal scorers just grow on trees.
He’s due a new contract following the 2022-23 season, same as Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, but there should be no reason the Blackhawks wouldn’t want to make DeBrincat one of the cornerstones of their future. Â We know Toews and Kane are not going to be moved unless they ask to be traded, but if Chicago has to pick two of these three players for their “future,” DeBrincat should definitely be chosen.
