No. 2: Alex DeBrincat
The Trade:
- Toronto Maple Leafs acquire: Alex DeBrincat
- Chicago Blackhawks acquire: Petr Mrazek, Nick Robertson and 2022 1st Round Pick
It’s been reported that the Blackhawks may trade DeBrincat if they “can get a top-10 pick and a quality prospect.”
Although the Leafs don’t have a top-10 selection, they do have an intriguing prospect that the Blackhawks may be interested in. In a perfect world, Nick Robertson is just a younger DeBrincat, so Chicago could move the 24-year-old for a younger version of himself and save themselves a ton of money.
The Leafs would be taking a risk, but they’d at least be able to trade for one year of a player who they know is a fantastic NHLer already.
At 5-foot-7, 165 pounds, DeBrincat is small in stature, but he puts up huge points every night. He has 307 points in 368 career games and already has two 40-plus goal seasons in the NHL. He’s one of the best pure-goal scorers in the league and if paired beside Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, they could make the most lethal line in hockey.
Within this trade package, the Blackhawks would be getting a high-end prospect, a first-round pick and a goaltender. You may think the Mrazek piece is a just a throw-in, but Chicago doesn’t have a goaltender right now, so Mrazek is the perfect number-one goalie for them as they look to start their rebuild.