A 25-year-old, two-time 40-goal scorer playing for his third team in three seasons would normally be a red flag, but Alex DeBrincat is in a unique situation. He went from a Chicago Blackhawks team that was tearing down to an Ottawa Senators team that couldn’t afford to keep him because of the contracts given to the existing young players. He is now with the Detroit Red Wings and coming off an underwhelming 27-goal, 66-point effort in his one year with Ottawa. 

The question is this: Can he return to his prior 40-goal, near-point-per-game levels? 

Years ago, there was a notion in some corners of hockey fandom that then-Blackhawks winger Artemi Panarin was a product of playing with Patrick Kane. Suffice it to say that Panarin’s subsequent performance in Columbus and New York has quelled all tha