What We Learned: Trading Alex DeBrincat was perfectly reasonable

Hard to believe we’re already in the Spin Zone, but we definitely are.

Here's Chicago Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson talking about what he got back in the Alex DeBrincat trade, finally brought to fruition after a couple of weeks of rumors: "That [trade was about] not only the return we got but also [about] the flexibility it gave us to either add younger players to the roster [or] use our cap space to add more assets. That all goes into the 'return' for Alex."

And this is certainly not to defend the return for DeBrincat, a two-time 40-goal scorer who's only 24, because it was absolutely underwhelming — a total ripoff by a general manager like Pierre Dorion, who is not traditionally known for ripping off anyone. A first-, second- and third-round pick is not an acceptable return for a player with DeBrincat's profile, especially when it's from a team absolutely laden with quality prospect talent. To not get a Jacob Bernard-Docker or Yegor Sokolov back from the Ottawa Senators is kind of astounding.

But even if we're not defending the return, the idea that the trade was somehow beyond the pale — echoed to various extents across, several, Chicago, outlets plus a few national ones — is a bit silly, the result of local scribes being too accustomed to covering winners and not accepting that few teams in the NHL have what it takes to become competitive without a full tear-down rebuild.