With comparable offensive numbers, DeBrincat signed a four-year, $31.5 million deal with the Detroit Red Wings.

It’s been over a week since the window opened for William Nylander to sign an extension with the Toronto Maple Leafs. And with reports surfacing that Nylander’s camp and the club are far apart in terms of price, a name some may have been watching closely was forward Alex DeBrincat, who was a restricted free agent with the Ottawa Senators. 

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That was until Sunday when the club traded the 25-year-old forward to the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for forward Dominik Kubalik, defenseman Donovan Sebrango, and a 2024 conditional first-round pick. The Red Wings then quickly signed DeBrincat to a four-year deal that carries an average annual value of $7.875 million

Naturally, there are going to be comparisons of DeBrincat's deal to Nylander, who is a year older and is signed with the Leafs through the end of the 2023-24 season. But are the comparisons justified?

How DeBrincat and Nylander are the same

Both DeBrincat and Nylander are highly-skilled forwards who have produced at an identical pace. Nylander has 430 points in 521 NHL games (0.825 PPG) and DeBrincat has 373 points in 450 NHL games (0.829 PPG). Both players have consistently held top-six forward roles for their respective teams and have mostly played with elite talent for much of their careers.

Nylander is entering the final year of his six-year deal that carries an average annual value of $6,962,366. DeBrincat previous contract was a three-year deal that carried an average annual value of $6.4 million.

That's where the comparison largely ends as both players had different paths and circumstances leading to their current situations.

How DeBrincat and Nylander are different

DeBrincat is a tenacious player who has used his goal-scoring ability to thrive in the NHL, despite being 5-foot-7. He has twice scored over 40 goals in a season in the NHL and is coming off a down season in which he produced 27 goals and 39 assists in 2022-23 while with the Ottawa Senators. This past season, DeBrincat mostly played on a line that featured Shane Pinto as his center.

DeBrincat has 187 goals in 450 NHL games whereas Nylander has 177 goals in 521 NHL games. 

With these points, you can make the argument that DeBrincat probably deserved a bigger contract than the one he received.

So what happened?

For starters, DeBrincat was a restricted free agent. There isn't a lot of leverage there and the Senators had filed for club-elected salary arbitration from the $9 million salary the forward earned in 2022-23. That could have brought the player’s contract down to a one-year at $7.65 million deal for 2023-24 if the arbitrator would have ruled in Ottawa’s favor.

But once the Senators and Red Wings began talking trade, it was clear that DeBrincat, who is from Detroit suburb Farmington Hills, was going to get a deal done pretty quickly. He became the second-highest player on the club, only trailing center Dylan Larkin at $8.7 million and the club still has over $8 million in cap space, according to PuckPedia.com.

Despite all of this, it's likely Nylander will still command a bigger contract than the one DeBrincat signed. It'll just depend on how much, how long, and most importantly... When.

Why Nylander will get more money than DeBrincat

While some of the numbers DeBrincat can tout are flashy, Nylander has produced more when it counts. Despite Toronto's lack of post-season success, Nylander is an outlier who has been one of Toronto's most consistent producers in the post-season with 17 goals and 23 assists in 50 career playoff games. DeBrincat's lone post-season appearance was in 2020 when the Blackhawks were gifted a qualifying round spot in an expanded field of 24 teams. To his credit, DeBrincat scored twice and had four assists in nine playoff games.

Nylander is an unrestricted free agent and becomes one just as the salary cap is finally expected to see a big jump. There will be more money to go around and depending on what happens with star center Auston Matthews, Nylander could become one of the top free agents available.

The amount of money in the system and the opportunity are the biggest differences in why DeBrincat and Nylander's respective situations aren't comparable. 

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