Alex DeBrincat returns to the United Center to find the Chicago Blackhawks aren’t as familiar: ‘I don’t know too many names’

As Alex DeBrincat began talking to Chicago Blackhawks reporters, his Ottawa Senators teammates jokingly tried to drown him out: “Welcome back! Welcome back!”

DeBrincat laughed through it.

Returning to the United Center Monday for the first time since the Hawks traded him to Ottawa last summer, DeBrincat probably knew he would be the center of attention.

“Obviously it’s fun to be back here,” he said, “but we’re still in important games and we need to get a win, so this would be a good one here.”

Defenseman Connor Murphy, DeBrincat’s Hawks teammate since the forward’s rookie season in 2017-18, said: “It’ll be cool to see the reception he gets among the fans. I know he was loved here in Chicago.”

The Hawks honored DeBrincat during a first-period break with a video-board tribute and stick-tap salute.

Then his new team promptly ran into a buzz saw.

Seth Jones scored twice in the Hawks’ 5-0 upset — his first season with multiple multi-goal games (also Jan. 17) — and Philipp Kurashev, Jason Dickinson and Lukas Reichel added goals. Goalie Alex Stalock notched his second shutout as a Hawk and the 11th of his career in a chippy game with 15 penalties and nine power plays (five for the Hawks).

DeBrincat came up empty on seven shots on goal and had a minus-3 rating.

“We were just close to him,” Hawks coach Luke Richardson said. “Even on the power play, we talked about it. He’s a quick guy who moves and he finds those seams.

“I think he scores more in the O-zone plays, when things get moving around, rather than a rush player. So I thought we did a good job of limiting his quality chances. But when he got them, I thought (Stalock) was really solid.”

DeBrincat’s first reunion with his old team happened on his turf at Canadian Tire Centre on Feb. 17, when the Hawks won 4-3. He had to wait until his 63rd game with the Senators to set foot again at the United Center, his NHL home for his first four seasons.

Asked whether his time in Chicago feels like yesterday or forever ago, DeBrincat replied, “A little bit of both, honestly.”

He added that not returning until March “makes it a little easier for me, being settled in here, creating new memories here, new friendships and it’s not so fresh over there. So I think it’s good to come a little later in the season.”

At this point, Senators coach D.J. Smith said, DeBrincat “definitely is mentally settled in with our group. If it was right away early, it’d still be fresh. But he has settled in with this group.”

Here are three things we learned from DeBrincat’s return.

1. The Blackhawks team DeBrincat knew is almost unrecognizable.

When the Hawks traded DeBrincat on July 7 for multiple draft picks, it was a tectonic shift for the franchise, a tipping point for the rebuild.

Since the last time DeBrincat donned a Hawks sweater, Kirby Dach was traded to the Montreal Canadiens, Patrick Kane was traded to the New York Rangers and Jonathan Toews and Reese Johnson were placed on injured reserve.

After a busy trade deadline, only 11 of DeBrincat’s former teammates are on the Hawks active roster.

“I looked at the (Hawks lineup) board and I guess I don’t know too many names on there, but it’s still cool to be back,” DeBrincat said.

He at least got a preview of this fish-out-of-water situation while facing the Rangers on Thursday during Kane’s New York debut.

“Yeah, that was definitely weird,” DeBrincat said. “Seeing him in a different uniform was different, but I think he’ll do good there.

“Obviously being back here and not having Kane or Toews in the lineup is definitely differen. You grow up watching those guys and then playing with them, they’re definitely the heartbeat of that team and face of the franchise, so it’s tough to see them not playing.”

There was a time late last season when all three Hawks stars publicly campaigned to be kept together — to retool instead of rebuild.

But the rebuild was already underway with Brandon Hagel’s trade to the Tampa Bay Lightning, and DeBrincat has no regrets now.

“You kind of see the writing on the wall,” he said, “with the Hagel trade last year ... a lot of the moves during the summer. But it is what it is. Everything happens for a reason.

“We’re playing meaningful games right now, which is a lot of fun. Hopefully we can squeeze into that playoff spot.”

2. MacKenzie Entwistle’s ‘bully’ is back in town.

If you didn’t see DeBrincat roughing up Entwistle during a Hawks practice or morning skate, you would wonder if they were no longer on speaking terms.

That was routine to see the 5-foot-8 DeBrincat pushing, tugging and jostling with the 6-3 Entwistle, giving him the hockey equivalent of a noogie.

But they’re fast friends.

“He’s one of my good buddies,” Entwistle said. “We had a lot of memories here in Chicago with the Blackhawks and away from the rink too. So obviously it’s going to be a little weird playing against him, but that’s hockey.”

The pair had dinner together Sunday at one of DeBrincat’s favorite restaurants.

“We just joked around,” Entwistle said. “He said he missed Chicago.”

Said DeBrincat: “I picked on him a bit last night when we went to dinner. He’s a good buddy of mine and it’s fun to mess with him all the time. I saw a couple tweets (where) he was messing with some new guys, so he’s carried on that tradition.”

Likewise, Entwistle said: “He’s been feisty. I’ve seen a couple clips where he’s trying to fight a couple of guys. I told him (during dinner), ‘I’ll be looking for you out there,’ but I was just kidding around.”

No matter what Entwistle says, DeBrincat believes he’s still the big brother.

“No, no, he’s always taking my heat, I don’t think he’s giving it to me too much,” DeBrincat said. “Even though he’s way bigger than me, if we were to fight in this game, I think I’d come out on top.”

DeBrincat, in the last year of a three-year, $19.2 million contract, paid the bill for dinner.

“I didn’t even ask that,” Entwistle said with a laugh. “He took it.”

3. DeBrincat thinks of himself as a grittier player with the Senators.

DeBrincat remembers when he got the news the Hawks traded him for first- and second-round picks last summer and a 2024 third-rounder.

“I was at home,” he said. “Obviously that whole day I knew something was going to happen or had a feeling.

“When you get the call, it’s obviously tough. I loved my time here. I thought I was going to be a Blackhawk forever. Obviously didn’t turn out that way. Like I said (earlier), everything happens for a reason.”

DeBrincat landed on a contender with Brady Tkachuk and Claude Giroux, but the two-time 40-goal scorer got off to a sluggish start with six goals and 11 assists through his first 22 games.

Something clicked in December, when he put up seven goals and 12 assists, registering at least one point in 13 of 14 games.

“Probably (in) December he really started to know his place and feel a lot more comfortable,” Smith said. “And we’re going to need everything from him down the stretch if we’re going to have any chance.”

Smith said he has been surprised by “how physical he can be in puck battles, how strong his stick is.”

“You know guys score goals, but you don’t watch them as closely as your own guys,” Smith said. “His ability to come out of battles with pucks against much bigger people — and his strength on pucks and his physicality around loose pucks — is exceptional.”

DeBrincat said that’s probably the only aspect of his game that’s a little different.

“I think I have that grit to my game if I need it,” he said. “That’s something I brought to the table this year, a little bit more than previous years. Just try to play well defensively and still create offensively too.”

DeBrincat has nine power-play goals, not far off last season’s career-high 14, so he remains a threat. And his value to the Senators is not in question — general manager Pierre Dorion said last month there was “no chance” he would trade DeBrincat at the deadline — but other factors could determine whether he continues to call Ottawa home.

The Senators are up for sale, and management will have to decide whether to make the $9 million qualifying offer and pursue a long-term deal.

And that’s if he’s even receptive to an extension. Would he rather test free agency?

“I’m just going to leave it to my agents right now,” DeBrincat said. “At this point of the season, there’s no point to rush anything. I think we’re just going to wait (till) the summer. We have a lot of big games here and don’t want to be distracted.”