Chicago Blackhawks: DeBrincat extension is a major win

The Chicago Blackhawks locked up their young stud sniper to a three-year contract and the price tag is a major win for the team.

The Chicago Blackhawks had a bit of an issue on their hands with the pending restricted free agency of Alex DeBrincat. He has taken the league by storm since coming in and has shown that he is one of the elite goal scorers around the league. He has also shown that he can score at even strength and on the power play and he is scoring no matter who is on his line.

The Blackhawks announced an extension on Thursday of a three-year contract. The contract runs through the 2022-23 season and carries an average annual value of 6.4 million. Based on what some other restricted free agents have been getting lately, that is a very team-friendly deal for the offense that DeBrincat is going to provide. In 2018-19 he had 41 goals and 35 assists for 76 points. There are wingers out there who had similar years and earned way more lucrative contracts, so that much is considered a win for Stan Bowman.

The only issue with the contract is that it is three years instead of more. You can expect him to get a major pay increase following this bridge deal if his numbers stay the same or get better. His emergence and chemistry with Dylan Strome have allowed Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane to play together at even strength regularly for the first time in their careers and it has provided great depth at forward. The quad also makes up a very strong power-play unit and this year should be a big one for all four players.

It is extremely important to have youth in your NHL lineup these days and they just locked in one of the best. This also helps them out in their negotiations with Strome because he’s not going to be able to command more than DeBrincat because he’s been slightly less productive as a member of the Blackhawks. This was a win for the team all around. DeBrincat is rich and the Blackhawks got him locked in on a fair deal.