The Ottawa Senators alternate captain says the Senators are ready to move on from the DeBrincat situation.

Alex DeBrincat's time with the Ottawa Senators was a decent short story. But until the new season starts this fall, it's unlikely that any of his former teammates will be able to fully close the book on it. They probably won't be able to do a single interview this summer without being asked to weigh in on the tale of DeBrincat.

During an interview on TSN 1200 radio Wednesday, as he prepared to play in a local PGA Tour Canada golf tournament, Senators alternate captain Claude Giroux didn't sound a bit surprised that DeBrincat is now gone. 

“We kind of saw it coming," Giroux said. "It was his decision and we all enjoyed playing with Alex. He didn’t want to be here. He didn’t see himself here for the next eight years. So that’s the business side of hockey that’s not really fun. But it is what it is. Now we’re going to move on.”

After just one season in Ottawa, DeBrincat refused to sign long-term with the club, so the Sens dealt him to Detroit, not far from where he and his wife grew up.

Giroux could have easily played up that hometown angle and compared it to his own situation last year. After all, he was also a free agent and signed here last year because he and his wife call Ottawa home. If the desire to play at home was the deciding factor in why DeBrincat left, Giroux of all people would understand and probably defend that motivation.

He made no attempt to defend DeBrincat's motivations, nor did he play up the hometown angle. 

It's crystal clear that the driving force all along was never money or home sickness, it was simply a lack of interest in being in Ottawa long-term. As the Wings entered the picture, the chance to play at home just became a happy circumstance.

At his welcoming news conference with Detroit media last week, DeBrincat freely admitted Ottawa wasn't the best place for him.

“I think, um, you know, we spent a year there and we just didn’t really, um, you know, have enough time to really, you know, think about signing long term (in Ottawa),” DeBrincat said. “And I think there were probably better fits out there for me."

The Sens got a conditional first-round pick (either Boston or Detroit's 2024 or '25 first-rounder), a 2024 fourth-rounder, winger Dominik Kubalik (a UFA next summer) and defence prospect Donovan Sebrango.