FEATURE: DeBrincat's journey to 40 goals not a surprise

Dylan Strome didn't know much about this undrafted kid the Ontario Hockey League's Erie Otters had signed, but there was plenty of chatter that he could eventually produce for them.
"He got passed up in two drafts and I guess one of our scouts found him," said Strome.
It didn't take Strome long to figure out that Alex DeBrincat was the real deal and was going to live up to that hype.

"Everyone was surprised, I think," said Strome, who has been reunited with DeBrincat in Chicago. "We heard about this free agent kid coming in, didn't know much about him but knew he'd be a pretty good player. We were hoping he'd be what he turned out to be. I think he was what we wanted and a lot more. A very good find for us [in Erie] and the Blackhawks, obviously, with him slipping that late in his draft."
While McDavid went first overall to the Edmonton Oilers and Strome went third overall to Arizona in the 2015 NHL Draft, DeBrincat fell to 39th the next year, much to the benefit of Chicago. While DeBrincat had the numbers in junior, could a 5-foot-7, 165-pound winger make that kind of impact in the NHL? There were questions, and DeBrincat has answered them with authority.
"It was always tough because he was so small so I never really knew how good he was going to be," said McDavid, who spoke with Blackhawks.com about DeBrincat in February. "I always believed he was going to be a really good player, but you hear little doubts and whatnot, but he just kept proving everyone wrong. It's a credit to him and how hard he works, his passion for the game and it's really amazing to see."
The doubts are no more.
DeBrincat, nearing the finish of his sophomore season in the NHL, scored twice against the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night to become the second-youngest player in Blackhawks history (21 years, 100 days) to reach 40 goals in a season, behind only Jeremy Roenick (21 years, 65 days) on March 23, 1991.
When asked if a few years ago, playing in Erie, DeBrincat would have imagined one day scoring 40 goals in the NHL - let alone in his second season - the winger let out a small laugh.
"No," he said. "I think you just worry about getting to the NHL, not about how many goals you're going to score. It's a cool accomplishment for me. It's fun to do, fun to score, glad it happened."
There has been no sophomore slump for DeBrincat, who set a high bar for himself with a team-leading 28 goals last season as a rookie. He's bettered those numbers, a feat that shouldn't be shrugged off as a natural progression. Not every second-year player makes a leap like DeBrincat has, not only living up to expectations but shattering them.
"I think it's pretty impressive for him to do what he did in his rookie year," said Jonathan Toews. "Not that it would be a fluke, but a lot of guys are excited to play and sometimes being a young rookie, not knowing what you're up against, helps you to go out there and just play and enjoy the game, play, create, and score. It's always tough to come back and back that up your second season and he's done all that and more. For him to reach a 40-goal season this early in this season is pretty impressive."
Blackhawks Head Coach Jeremy Colliton agrees.
"You see that a lot where sometimes guys take a step back but I think it says a lot about his character and commitment to being great every night," said the coach. "He's been able to produce for us pretty consistently. I know he was a little more streaky last year, but not so much this year."
You can't get to where DeBrincat is without willing to put the work in.
"He practices hard and he loves to score goals," said Strome. "You're not going to find a guy who scores many more goals in practice than he does. I guess you practice like you play and he scores goals everywhere. It's fun to watch. He always has a good work ethic and it shows on the ice."
"It's his heart, I think," McDavid said of DeBrincat's biggest asset.
"He's got such good character, he works so hard, he's so tenacious on the puck and he's got so many different qualities that make him a guy that never goes away and a guy you can bet on.
"If you're a smaller guy, you need to be able to win puck battles. You're not going to out-muscle that many guys, especially in this league, so he just flat-out out-works guys. That's how he wins his puck battles and makes plays."
With back-to-back strong seasons, DeBrincat has already established himself as one of the league's best young stars, so where is his ceiling?
"Well, 40 goals is a nice floor," quipped Colliton.
"He'll get better. He'll learn more and more about how to get open in this league and he's already doing a good job of it. But as a veteran guy, you learn what you've got to do to produce every night, whether that's power play coming through more consistently or just finding a way to get out of d-zone more. If he gets out of d-zone more, he's in the offensive zone and he can finish down there so I wouldn't say he's a finished product at all. That's not a slight on how he's playing, he's playing great. But he's young, he's a kid still. He can get better."
With DeBrincat already scary good at putting the puck in the net, it's amazing to ponder that he could - and likely will - get even better with time.
For those who know him best, that doesn't come as a surprise.