The Ottawa Senators have elected to file for arbitration with restricted free agent Alex DeBrincat, Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia reports.
The move comes as DeBrincat has reportedly been unwilling to sign a long-term deal with the club. Garrioch notes the Senators could receive up a 15 per cent discount on his $9 million qualifying offer if successful.
Will have more on this later but the Senators will elect to take winger Alex DeBrincat to arbitration at Thursday's 5 p.m. deadline. He doesn't want to sign here, the club can get a 15% discount on his $9 million contract if successful so it makes sense. #Sens
— Bruce Garrioch (@SunGarrioch) June 15, 2023
TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun reported last week that DeBrincat's agent has submitted a list of preferred trade destinations as contract talks continue to stall between the two sides. The team could still trade the winger ahead of his arbitration hearing.
"I don’t think you can say it’s a certainty, but it looks like it’s more likely than not," LeBrun said of DeBrincat being traded. "What’s happened here is DeBrincat’s camp, led by agent Jeff Jackson, has submitted a list of preferred destinations that his client would be interested in joining. The reason that’s significant is that if general manager Pierre Dorion does trade DeBrincat, he would want him to be signed through this trade, so he could get maximum value back in return.
"Think of the Matthew Tkachuk deal from the Calgary Flames to the Florida Panthers last off-season. Don’t know who exactly is on that list but that list has been submitted."
The Flames traded Tkachuk prior to his club-elected arbitration hearing last summer.
The Senators acquired DeBrincat last year in a trade with the Chicago Blackhawks, sending the seventh and 39th overall picks in the 2022 NHL Draft and a 2023 third-round pick the other way.
He had 27 goals and 66 points in 82 games in his first season with the Senators.
DeBrincat is coming off a three-year, $19.2 million contract with a cap hit of $6.4 million.
The Farmington Hills, Mich., product has 187 goals and 373 points in 450 career NHL games and has scored 40-plus goals twice in his NHL career.
