The Chicago Blackhawks traded promising winger Alex DeBrincat to the Ottawa Senators for a surprisingly small return.
Yes, they received a top-ten pick in tonight’s NHL Draft, along with two other lesser selections, but DeBrincat is a rising star; just 24, he made his first All-Star roster this season en route to tallying 41 goals and 37 assists.
The odds of finding a player with any of these picks who will be better than him over the next ten years feels slim, yet that’s exactly the decision Chicago made.
Full trade:
To Chicago:
7th overall
39th overall
2024 3rd round pickTo Ottawa:
Alex DeBrincat@DailyFaceoff— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) July 7, 2022
It was the Blackhawks announcing the move on Instagram that led to the most widely circulated reply, though, from none other than the city of Chicago itself.
View this post on Instagram
Replying to that post with a simple “L”, the official account for Chicago racked up over 7,000 likes in a true display of populist democracy in action.
Let’s hope whichever social media manager made the call on this one gets rewarded for it, because, honestly: it’s a bad trade! Especially considering the possible reasoning was “GM wants draft pick at all costs, ignoring relative asset valuation.”
.@JamisonCoyle & @FriedgeHNIC discuss the deal sending Alex DeBrincat to the Sens.
Tune in now for our #NHLDraft coverage leading up to the 1st pick! pic.twitter.com/7ZxGw9tE0G
— NHL Network (@NHLNetwork) July 7, 2022
If ever a faceless city account is going to pile on the home team, it might as well be for a move like this one.
