The negotiations that landed Alex DeBrincat with the Detroit Red Wings were a grind for everybody — except, apparently, the guy pulling the trigger.
Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman said Monday the transaction to trade for DeBrincat and sign him to a four-year extension was actually pretty seamless.
“It wasn’t long and laborious at all,” Yzerman said. “We talked a little bit prior to the draft, a little bit prior to July 1, and then really got the trade done quickly (Sunday) and was able to get a contract done quickly after that.”
DeBrincat, a Farmington Hills native and two-time 41-goal scorer, was traded to Detroit in return for defense prospect Donovan Sebrango, 27-year-old winger Dominik Kubalik, a conditional 2024 first-round pick and a 2024 fourth-rounder.
Much speculation surrounded the impending trade and extension, with numerous outlets reporting DeBrincat may have been looking for upward of eight years of term. Ultimately, a four-year extension made sense for both sides, Yzerman said.
“It was a number we were both comfortable with. … Things are changing. You’re starting to see more players — at least this offseason, and I think it might be a trend — more players signing shorter-term contracts, not necessarily going the full seven and eight years,” Yzerman said.
“We discussed four and five years, and ultimately, we were both comfortable doing four years.”
Part of the trend Yzerman was referring to may have to do with the recent stagnation of the league’s salary cap. The cap rose year over year from $56.8 million (2009-10) to $81.5 million (2019-20) in the span of a decade, but loss of revenue from the pandemic forced the number to stay at $81.5 million through the 2021-22 season.
It has increased by $1 million each of the last two seasons but is expected to see a significant jump for the 2024-25 season. Players of DeBrincat’s caliber would find it risky to take a short-term deal (even in two years, a lot can go wrong), but at the same time, a long-term deal may had his contract looking like peanuts by the time the cap jumps again.
Hence, why a four-year deal was a fit for both sides: DeBrincat will hit unrestricted free agency again at age 29, in a cap-infused landscape, while the Red Wings can have comfort in knowing that they’ve got an elite scorer on a team-friendly deal while they look to turn the corner.
“This contract just worked out best for both parties,” DeBrincat said. “And I think it was a good fit in that aspect. I’ve said it before, I usually let my agent deal with most of that, and I’m just here to play hockey.”
Even after the DeBrincat extension, Detroit holds the fourth-most cap space ($13.5m available) of any team in the NHL. Yzerman — with the caveat of “not ruling anything out” — said his team is likely done making major roster moves for the time being.
“We’re not restrained by finances. We’re restrained by the salary cap. We’re not just gonna go to the cap just to go to the cap, but certainly, if an opportunity comes along that makes our team better that forces us to it, we’re prepared to do that,” Yzerman said.
“Having said that, I’m not aware of any scenario that’s gonna happen at this time, so I don’t see us doing a whole lot more.”
One notable aspect of the trade is the 2024 conditional first-rounder, which has the potential to play out in a variety of different scenarios. Detroit has two picks in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft, their own and the Boston Bruins’, which it picked up in a deadline move involving Tyler Bertuzzi. Yzerman can choose whether he wants to send Ottawa his own team’s draft pick or Boston’s in next year’s draft.
However, there’s also a condition on the first-rounder Detroit got from Boston — it’s top-10 protected. If Boston’s 2024 first-round pick lands in the top 10, the Bruins will have the option of instead sending Detroit their unprotected 2025 first-rounder. In this scenario, the Red Wings would be able to choose between sending Ottawa its own 2024 first-round pick or Boston’s unprotected first-rounder in 2025.
“It gives us a little protection. It gives us some options. I don’t know where we’re going to finish in the standings this year. I hope we’re creeping forward,” Yzerman said.
“I think Boston is still a very good team … so it gives us a little protection if one of these picks is very high. Ultimately, if both of them are very high, Ottawa’s gonna be very happy with what they acquired in the trade.”
nbianchi@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @nolanbianchi