DeBrincat builds on lessons learned from McDavid for Blackhawks

CHICAGO -- Alex DeBrincat has had his doubters, Connor McDavid chief among them.

McDavid, playing for Erie of the Ontario Hockey League heading into the 2014-15 season, was incredulous when then-general manager Sherwood Bassin told him that DeBrincat was his new wing.
"He's like five-foot-nothing or whatever, and I said, 'are you serious?' This is the guy you want playing with me?'" McDavid, the Edmonton Oilers center, said of DeBrincat (5-foot-7, 165 pounds). "Then came training camp. He was a real good player and we kind of found instant chemistry and then by the end of the year, he was just dominant."
There's no longer questions about DeBrincat. The Chicago Blackhawks forward has 14 points (eight goals, six assists) in 12 games, second on the team to forward Patrick Kane, who has 18 points (11 goals, seven assists). DeBrincat's been key to early success for the Blackhawks (6-3-3), who play at the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday (10 p.m. ET; NHLN, SN, SN360, SN1, WGN, NHL.TV).

DeBrincat said he learned a lot from McDavid in that season, when he scored 104 points (51 goals, 53 assists) playing with the soon-to-be No. 1 pick in the 2015 NHL Draft.
"The biggest thing is doing everything at top speed," DeBrincat said. "A lot of guys, when they try to make moves, they slow down. He doesn't. Also, you find open space. To score goals with him, it's just finding the open space and he'll do the rest. There's so much you learn from watching and playing with a guy like that."
His production at Erie helped DeBrincat, 20, get selected the by the Blackhawks in the second round (No. 39) of the 2016 NHL Draft.
As an NHL rookie last season, the Farmington Hills, Michigan, native had 52 points, including a team-leading 28 goals, in 82 games.
After earning a spot on the first line in training camp, DeBrincat responded with a seven-game point streak (seven goals, four assists) to start the season.

Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Travis Dermott, DeBrincat's teammate in Erie from 2014-16, said DeBrincat has earned everything he's achieved.
"It's great for him that he worked so hard out of nothing given to him," Dermott said. "He wasn't drafted, then came to Erie as a free agent and never really looked back. He watched McDavid a lot, which I think gave him a lot of motivation, someone to look up to and learn from. He did a great job with that. Then gets drafted [by the Blackhawks] and then gets the opportunity to play and he does so well. It's pretty spectacular watching where he came from to where he is now."
DeBrincat played his final two seasons in Erie with center Dylan Strome, now with the Arizona Coyotes, and Taylor Raddyish, a forward prospect for the Tampa Bay Lightning. He had 101 points (51 goals, 50 assists) in 2015-16 and a team-record 65 goals as part of a 127-point season in 2016-17. DeBrincat is one of two players in OHL history with 3 straight 50-goal seasons, joining Dale McCourt (Hamilton/St. Catharines, 1974-77).
To help DeBrincat adjust to the NHL last season, Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville put him on the third line. But Quenneville said DeBrincat has shown he can handle top defenders.

"You have to give him credit knowing, coming off the year he had, with the so-called sophomore jinx and awareness around the League that he's going to get more attention," Quenneville said. "He plays well technically, does a lot of good things in our game. If he keeps going the way he's been going, he could really be something where all of a sudden the numbers will be reflected of how good he really is."
DeBrincat said, "Everyone in this League is good, every defensive pair. Some are better than others, but you have to make quick plays no matter who you're playing against. It doesn't matter who you play. Hopefully you get around them. That's how I approach it."
Those who watched DeBrincat in Erie aren't surprised he has become a big part of the Blackhawks offense.
"Being a smaller player, people just see his stature. But really, if you're to open his body up, you'd see this giant inside," former Erie assistant coach Vince Laise said. "His competitiveness and fearlessness and tenacity, you can't measure it with what we see with our eyes."
McDavid said, "He's always been a guy who's had doubters and people who look at his size and say, 'Oh, he'll never play, or he'll never be successful.' But we saw what he did in junior and now it's translated to the NHL. For me, a guy who's seen it up close and personal, it doesn't surprise me at all."
NHL.com correspondent Dave McCarthy contributed to this report.