Pierre Dorion admitted yesterday to Postmedia's Bruce Garrioch that he'd granted DeBrincat's camp permission to speak to teams about an extension on «multiple occasions,» but that proposed deals had fallen through at that point.
Garrioch was able to independently confirm that today, saying that DeBrincat's desired contract extension is what's holding up a trade going through, not the offers Ottawa is receiving for trade returns.
DeBrincat's agent, Jeff Jackson, has been granted permission by the Senators to engage in contract extension talks with at least three different teams, Garrioch said. He's reportedly seeking an eight-year, $70.2M deal, coming in just under the $70.4M extension Timo Meier signed with the New Jersey Devils last month. That would be an $8.775MM cap hit for DeBrincat, with Garrioch saying teams are trying to get him signed to a contract closer to the $8M mark.
The Senators filed for club-elected salary arbitration with DeBrincat in the first window last month, taking the $9M qualifying offer off the table. Instead, that allows them to come in with an offer as low as $7.65M. Arbitration hearings don't start until late July and run into early August.
