DETROIT — The Detroit Red Wings signed two-time All-Star forward Alex DeBrincat to a seven-year contract worth $13 million per season.
The move provided desperately needed good news for a franchise mired in a decade-long postseason drought with an interim general manager, a former captain in limbo, and an unsigned restricted free agent.
The 28-year-old DeBrincat has established himself as a productive offensive player in the NHL with 298 career goals and 603 points. He led the team and set a career high with 85 points last season and matched his career high with 41 goals, becoming the first player to have at least 40 goals for the Red Wings since Marian Hossa in 2009.
DeBrincat leads the Red Wings with four goals and eight points this season but they have lost five of their first six games. Detroit next hosts Philadelphia.
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Chicago selected DeBrincat in the second round of the 2016 draft. He was an All-Star with the Blackhawks during the 2022 season and was traded to Toronto the following offseason, The Red Wings acquired the Farmington Hills, Michigan, native from the Ottawa Senators in 2023 and he was an All-Star in his first season in Detroit.
DeBrincat’s extension is a positive development for a franchise that has had a string of negative news.
Detroit demoted former general manager Steve Yzerman in July, giving him an advisory role to owner and CEO Chris Ilitch, and named Shawn Horcoff interim GM after failing to hire one during a search.
Dylan Larkin asked for a trade during the offseason and after the team did not move the the 30-year-old center, he was stripped of his captaincy. Larkin was booed when he was introduced before the season-opening game while he was not in uniform, recovering from an upper-body injury.
When the Red Wings were preparing to start the season, defenseman Simon Edvinsson was seen training with a team in his native Sweden. The 23-year-old restricted free agent had nine goals and 25 points in 72 games last year, his second full season in the NHL. Detroit drafted him No. 6 overall in 2021 and he has 19 career goals and 60 points in 175 games.