"The rebuild is done," — Pierre Dorion, September 2021.
OK, it might be several months late, but the Ottawa Senators general manager's bold statement prior to the 2021-22 season finally rings true.
By trading for Alex DeBrincat — a 24-year-old coming off a 41-goal season — for a package of picks without giving up a single player, the Senators are signalling their intention to turn the page on a rough few seasons and hunt for a playoff spot next year. Something they haven't done since making the Eastern Conference Final in 2017.
For the Chicago Blackhawks, Kyle Davidson's first significant move as general manager may signal the opposite. Does acquiring seventh- and 39th-overall picks plus a third-rounder really justify trading away one of the best young scorers in the league? One that could be instrumental in the franchise's path to a rebuild, even if his contract could become an issue down the road?
Here's what people on social media had to say:
"Is this real life???" — The Ottawa Side
For Senators fans who've been on the other end of trades like this and watched their team deal stars like Erik Karlsson and Mark Stone, acquiring the star was clearly nice for a change.
Even crazier, the deal is a drastic change from trading the seventh-overall pick to offload Matt Murray's contract — a scenario that came close to fruition earlier in the day, but ultimately didn't happen due to Murray's no-move clause.
"L" — The Chicago Side
The general consensus for the Blackhawks is that the trade is a failure. So much so that the City of Chicago felt comfortable putting its own NHL franchise on blast.
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