Alex DeBrincat did his job Sunday afternoon. The Red Wings still lost, and now Oilers fans are circling Detroit's most dangerous winger.
Detroit fell 3-2 to the Jets at home and sits at 0-2-0 to open the season. Two goals through two games won't calm anybody in the Motor City.
The winger logged 23:16 and fired four shots on goal. He also picked up an assist and finished a +1, which puts him in a small club on this roster right now.
So what went wrong? Every Winnipeg goal came on the power play, and Kyle Connor scored twice with the man advantage.
Detroit outshot Winnipeg 35-27 and still lost. Stuart Skinner stopped 33 of those shots, and the Red Wings kept giving the Jets reasons to send out their top unit.
Keegan Kolesar alone took 7 penalty minutes. Todd McLellan can't love what his special teams looked like on a day his club controlled play at even strength.
That's the backdrop for a Monday morning post from Oilers fan site Bleed Oil Blue, openly wondering whether a Detroit fire sale could send the 28-year-old west.
Edmonton's goaltending numbers point to a different need
The post leaned on a quote from @MLarkinHockey, shared by IceMetrix, calling Edmonton the number 1 team he'd picture as the ideal fit for DeBrincat.
There's no reported move here. Just a fan account, a quote, and a team that hasn't won yet.
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The money matters. Detroit's winger carries a $7,875,000 cap hit, and Edmonton already pays Leon Draisaitl $14,000,000.
Add Connor McDavid and Evan Bouchard to that core, and every extra dollar Stan Bowman spends gets scrutinized hard.
And scoring isn't the problem in Edmonton. The Oilers have 17 goals through three games and sit at 2-0-1.
The crease is where it gets ugly. Devon Levi owns an .810 save percentage, and Tristan Jarry is sitting at .739.
Chasing another sniper with that goaltending is like buying a premium sound system for a car with worn-out brakes. It's the wrong target, and it's not particularly close.
Mike Babcock's group is short a forward, though. Zach Hyman is out with an undisclosed injury until at least Oct. 17.
Detroit has bigger fish to fry than trade chatter. Lucas Raymond, carrying an $8,075,000 cap hit, has been held scoreless through two games.
Moritz Seider played 25:41 on Sunday. The ice time is there for the core, and the results aren't.
The Red Wings host Ottawa on Tuesday, then travel to Edmonton on Oct. 26 for the first meeting between the teams this season.
If Detroit is still searching for answers by then, the Oilers crowd won't be the only ones watching number 93 a little too closely.
Should the Oilers chase Alex DeBrincat before fixing their goaltending?
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