In the deep Atlantic, a rivalry is brewing between Detroit and Ottawa. Between Alex DeBrincat's new team and his old one. He felt it from the other side last season when the Senators hosted the Red Wings for a pair of playoff-like games on back-to-back nights and promptly sent them packing. Aggregate score: Ottawa 12-Detroit 3.
"For us as the Senators, we were a couple points behind the Wings at that point and those were probably our two biggest games of the season. Going into that, everyone was fired up and obviously playing at home, the crowd was there, so we just had that energy and that jump and I think we took them out of the game early," DeBrincat said Thursday on 97.1 The Ticket's Inside Hockeytown. "Hopefully we’ll have a better experience on the Wings this year than they did last year."
DeBrincat's move from Detroit to Ottawa adds another log to a growing fire. The Red Wings and Senators are on parallel paths in the Atlantic Division, both trying to beat the other back to the playoffs. Ottawa's drought is going on seven years, Detroit's on eight. Both are franchise worsts. Along with the Sabres, who have the NHL's longest active playoff drought at 12 years, the Wings and Sens figure to be fighting for one of the final postseason berths in the East next season.
The Wings missed the playoffs by 12 points last season -- they were right in the mix prior to a trade deadline sell-off -- the Senators by six and the Sabres by one. It was the best season for each team in at least six years.
Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman has acknowledged himself that Detroit isn't so much competing with Tampa, Boston, Toronto and Florida in the Atlantic, the powers that be, but Ottawa, Buffalo and Montreal. And he didn't mince words last season when he said in regard to the Senators and Sabres, "I look at their nucleuses of young players and what they have coming, they’re just ahead of us." Of course, that was before Yzerman brought DeBrincat to Detroit.
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Now the Red Wings have a two-time 40-goal scorer at the top of their lineup, and the Senators don't. DeBrincat joins a young core in Detroit led by captain Dylan Larkin, his likely center to start next season, and bolstered by Moritz Seider, Lucas Raymond, Jake Walman and top prospects Simon Edvinsson and Marco Kasper. Goalie Sebastian Cossa is on his way. Not that the Sens are lacking. They boast two of the best young wingers in the game in Brady Tkachuk and Tim Stutzle and a star-studded blueline featuring Tomas Chabot, Jacob Chychrun and Jake Sanderson, all of them 26 or younger.
The stage is set for a heavyweight fight over the next several years. It may not be long before the two teams aren't just scratching to get into the playoffs, but trading blows to win the division.
"100 percent," said DeBrincat. "I think a lot of guys feel that. We’re pretty much at the same stage as them in the rebuild and hopefully we can pass them in that, but I think it’s two teams that have really successful futures. Obviously the Senators have a lot of great young players, just like the Wings, so I think it’s definitely going to be a rivalry in the future. It’s already starting to be one, so I’m excited for that."
DeBrincat won't have to wait long to return to Ottawa, where he declined to sign a long-term contract this offseason. (And no one should begrudge a 25-year-old first-time father -- DeBrincat and his wife Lyndsey welcomed a baby boy last May -- wanting to settle his family in his hometown, near his parents, where a support system already exists.) The Red Wings visit the Senators the fifth game of next season, a Saturday matinee on Oct. 21. They also play each other in Stockholm in November.
"I’m just excited to start the season in general," said DeBrincat. "With this group of guys, it should be a successful year. Obviously playing for Detroit has been a dream of mine and now it becomes a reality. Couldn’t be happier."
Last time the Wings played in Ottawa, DeBrincat notched a goal and an assist in a 6-1 Senators win. (He had seven points in four games against Detroit last season.) Next time, he'll be playing for the visitors and his hometown team. It will be no easy climb in the Atlantic, but the Red Wings finally have the talent to take the next step.
"It’s definitely a tough division," said DeBrincat. "Obviously you have your top teams that have been good for quite a while now and then you have your teams that are just knocking on the door -- Buffalo, Ottawa and obviously Detroit now, too. It should be a lot of great games and some rivalries going on there. I think that only makes you better in the long run, and hopefully we can have a good year."
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