The Chicago Blackhawks have signed prospect Alex DeBrincat to a three-year entry-level contract, the team announced Monday.
Extremely excited to sign my first NHL contract with @NHLBlackhawks pic.twitter.com/1bBkDjkFyD
— Alex DeBrincat (@Brinksy97) November 7, 2016
DeBrincat, who was selected with the 39th overall pick in the second round of this year’s NHL draft, leads the Ontario Hockey League with 17 goals, and has 35 points in 14 games this season with the Erie Otters. He’s also winning 59.2 percent of his faceoffs this season.
The 18-year-old scored 51 goals the past two seasons with the Erie. He’s just the third player in OHL history to post consecutive 50-goal seasons, joining Ottawa’s Tyler Toffoli (Los Angeles Kings) in 2010-11 and 2011-12, and Sudbury’s Norman Milley in 1998-99 and 1999-2000. He won the OHL Rookie of the Year and CHL Rookie of the Year in 2015 after a 104-point (51 goals, 53 assists) season in his first season with Erie.
DeBrincat’s point total did fall from 104 in 2014-15 to 101 last season, his points per game rate climbed from 1.5 to 1.68, as he appeared in eight fewer games (60 rather than 68). The 5-foot-7, 165-pound forward’s performance in the CHL playoffs also improved last year, with 16 points in 20 games in 2014-15 to 19 points in just 13 games last season. He flanked Connor McDavid and Dylan Strome — the Nos. 1 and 4 overall picks from the 2015 NHL Draft, respectively — for the majority of the past two seasons. In three seasons with Erie, DeBrincat has registered 119 goals and 121 assists in 142 career games.
DeBrincat will be eligible to be called up to the Hawks main roster after Erie’s season is over. If he does play 10 games this season for the Hawks he would lose one year from his contract.
Alex DeBrincat can actually play in the AHL next season because he’s a ’97 birth year. He’ll turn 19 on December 18.
— Scott Powers (@ByScottPowers) November 7, 2016