At age 21, DeBrincat is having a breakout season that suggests stardom is on the way. He has registered 62 points in 63 games, including 34 goals, which ranks ninth in the NHL and is second on the Blackhawks, behind only Patrick Kane's 39 goals that are second in the league.
"He's scratching the surface of where he's going to be," general manger Stan Bowman said of DeBrincat on the McNeil & Parkins Show on Wednesday afternoon. "He's on pace to score probably 40 goals this year, which is really impressive for such a young player."
Bowman marveled at how much DeBrincat developed and improved since he made the team as a rookie in 2017-'18, a campaign in which he played in all 82 games and registered 28 goals and 24 assists.
"We weren't quite sure he was going to make our team right out of the gate or if he was going need some time to develop," Bowman said. "But he had such a good training camp last season. It led into him leading our team in goals as a rookie. And then sometimes those guys struggle their second year -- teams are more familiar with them, they focus on them a little bit more. But it hasn't stopped him. I think he's got that special talent to be able to score goals. And it's something that's really difficult to do, especially as a young player. Just getting into the league, to be as consistently productive putting the puck in the net. I think he's got several great years ahead of him. It's fun to see what he's doing."