| Alex DeBrincat | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | December 18, 1997 Farmington Hills, Michigan, U.S. |
| Height | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) |
| Weight | 165 lb (75 kg; 11 st 11 lb) |
| Position | Right wing / Left wing |
| Shoots | Right |
| NHL team Former teams |
Ottawa Senators Chicago Blackhawks |
| National team |  United States
|
| NHL Draft | 39th overall, 2016 Chicago Blackhawks |
| Playing career | 2017–present |
Alex DeBrincat (born Alexander DeBrincat on December 18, 1997) is an American ice hockey player who currently plays for the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League (NHL)
He was selected as the 39th overall pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft by the Blackhawks.
Playing Career[]
Junior[]
Prior to his career in the OHL, Alex spent two years playing high school hockey at Lake Forest Academy where he had 54 goals & 111 points in 50 games. He also played for Victory Honda's youth program.
On April 29, 2014, he signed with the Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League as a free agent and would join the club for the 2014–15 season. He appeared in his first career OHL game on September 24, 2014, and scored his first goal against Nikita Serebryakov of the Saginaw Spirit in a 7-1 win.
On November 7, 2014, Alex scored his first career hat trick in a 5-2 win over the Sarnia Sting. In his final regular season game on March 22, he scored a goal and added five assists for a six-point game as the Otters defeated the Niagara IceDogs 8-7.
Alex finished the season with 51 goals and 104 points in 68 games, and led all OHL rookies in goals, assists and points. In the postseason, he had nine goals and 16 points in 20 games, as the Otters lost to the Oshawa Generals in the J. Ross Robertson Cup finals.
He won the Emms Family Award (which is awarded to the OHL Rookie of the Year) and was named the CHL Rookie of the Year. He also was named to the OHL First All-Rookie Team, and the OHL Second All-Star Team.
In the 2016-17 season, Alex led the OHL in scoring with 65 goals and added 62 assists in 63 regular-season games. He matched a league record with a 19-game goal-scoring streak, becoming the first American-born player to reach the 50-goal mark in three consecutive OHL seasons.
He is also the Erie Otters' all-time leading goal-scorer and the top American goal scorer in OHL history.
In May of 2017, Alex was named the 2016-17 recipient of the Red Tilson Trophy which is awarded to the most outstanding player in the OHL.
Professional[]
After playing for three seasons with the Erie Otters, Alex made the Blackhawks out of training camp at the start of the 2017-18 season. He made his NHL debut on October 5, 2017 in a 10-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins.
On October 10, 2017, he scored his first NHL goal in a game against the Montreal Canadiens on goaltender Carey Price.
On November 27, Alex recorded his first NHL hat trick against the Anaheim Ducks making him the second youngest Blackhawks player to score a hat trick (behind Jeremy Roenick by four days).
On January 25, 2018, he scored his second hat trick of the season against the Detroit Red Wings to cinch a 5–1 win in his home state of Michigan.
By doing so, he became the youngest Blackhawks player to record two regular season hat tricks in one season, as well as the first rookie to do so since Steve Larmer in the 1982-83 NHL season.
On March 18, 2018, Alex recorded his third career hat trick on March 18, 2018, against the St. Louis Blues. With his third hat trick in his rookie season, he set a new Blackhawks rookie record and tied Tony Granato for the most hat tricks by a U.S born rookie in a season.
The following day, he became the youngest Blackhawks player to be awarded the Blackhawks Player of the Year Award. He concluded his debut season with 52 points (including a team-high 28 goals).
Alex surpassed his career high in goals, assists, and points during the 2018–19 season. He primarily skated on the Blackhawks' second line alongside with his longtime friend and former Otters' teammate Dylan Strome (whom the Blackhawks acquired in November).
On February 18, 2019, he recorded his fourth career hat trick and two assists in a 8–7 win against the Ottawa Senators; this was the first five point night in his career.
On October 3, 2019, the Blackhawks signed Alex to a three-year, $19.2 million contract extension. He tallied only 45 points on 18 goals and 27 assists during the 2019–20 season, which was condensed to 70 games due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He registered two goals and four assists in nine games during the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs.
Alex rebounded during the condensed 2020–21 NHL season by registering 32 goals and 24 assists in 52 games. He led the Blackhawks in goals and finished third overall in goal scoring in the NHL for the season. On March 5, 2021, he scored his 100th career goal.
In July of 2022, Alex was traded to the Ottawa Senators for a First Round Pick, Second Round Pick, and a Third Round Pick.
Career Statistics[]
Regular season and playoffs[]
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2013–14 | Lake Forest Academy | MPHL | 13 | 16 | 12 | 28 | 16 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 0 | ||
| 2013–14 | Lake Forest Academy | USHS | 50 | 54 | 57 | 111 | 28 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2014–15 | Erie Otters | OHL | 68 | 51 | 53 | 104 | 73 | 20 | 9 | 7 | 16 | 26 | ||
| 2015–16 | Erie Otters | OHL | 60 | 51 | 50 | 101 | 28 | 13 | 8 | 11 | 19 | 13 | ||
| 2016–17 | Erie Otters | OHL | 63 | 65 | 62 | 127 | 49 | 18 | 13 | 25 | 38 | 10 | ||
| 2017–18 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 82 | 28 | 24 | 52 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2018–19 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 82 | 41 | 35 | 76 | 15 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2019–20 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 70 | 18 | 27 | 45 | 15 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 9 | ||
| 2020–21 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 52 | 32 | 24 | 56 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NHL totals | 286 | 119 | 110 | 229 | 48 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 9 | ||||
International[]
| Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | United States | WJC | Template:Brca | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 25 | |
| 2018 | United States | WC | Template:Brca | 10 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 0 | |
| 2019 | United States | WC | 7th | 8 | 7 | 2 | 9 | 4 | |
| Junior totals | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 25 | ||||
| Senior totals | 18 | 8 | 10 | 18 | 4 | ||||
International Play[]
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Competitor for United States
| ||
| Ice hockey | ||
| World Championships | ||
| Bronze | 2018 Denmark | |
| World Junior Championships | ||
| Bronze | 2016 Finland | |
Alex was named to Team USA in the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championships in Helsinki, Finland.
He was injured in a game against Sweden, but recovered quick enough to net a vital goal against the Czech Republic in the quarterfinals. He ended the tournament with 1 goal in 5 games to help Team USA clinch Bronze.
After the end of his rookie season with the Blackhawks, Alex was named to the Team USA roster to compete at the 2018 IIHF World Championship. where he contributed with 9 point in 10 games to help the United States claim the Bronze Medal in Denmark.
The following year, he returned to the World Championship as he was named to Team USA roster to compete at the 2019 IIHF World Championship, held in Bratislava and Kosice, Slovakia.
Accolades[]
| Award | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| MPHL | ||
| Malloy Division All-Star | 2014 | |
| MPHL Most Goals | 2014 | |
| OHL | ||
| Rookie of the Month: September, October, March | 2015 | |
| First All-Rookie Team | 2015 | |
| Emms Family Award | 2015 | |
| Second All-Star Team | 2015 | |
| CHL Rookie of the Year | 2015 | |
| CHL Top Prospects Game | 2016 | |
| Third All-Star Team | 2016 | |
| First All-Star Team | 2017 | |
| Red Tilson Trophy | 2017 | |
| Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy | 2017 | |
| Jim Mahon Memorial Trophy | 2017 | |
| Memorial Cup All-Star Team | 2017 | |
Personal Life[]
Alex's father, David is Maltese and his mother, Tracey is Canadian. He has an older brother, Andrew, who played hockey for Lake Forest Academy in Lake Forest, Illinois for two seasons before graduating in 2012; as of 2019, he plays for the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL.
He attended Harrison High School in Farmington Hills, Michigan for one season before transferring to Lake Forest Academy. He and his fiancé, Lyndsey plan to get married in July of 2021.