Ottawa has about 8 mil in CAP space. They still need to add like 5 or 6 players. AD turned down 8 mil to stay. Only 4 others teams have the CAP space to pick him up. Who's offering more?

Someone would take Debrincat on a 1 year deal but it would probably end up being a hockey trade instead of a futures based trade, since Debrincat is probably worth like a 2nd round pick on a 1 year deal in this terrible trade market.

Washington has Kuznetsov and Wilson. They have shown interest in Debrincat. Kuznetsov likely requires retention, and he might have Ottawa on his no trade list.

There is also the political POV. If Debrincat will not sign long term, Ottawa is unlikely to move him to Detroit. How does it look in January if Debrincat and the Red Wings come to terms on a deal? It then looks like Yzerman bamboozled Dorion by faking an inability to sign Debrincat, only to acquire him for nothing and sign him long term regardless.

If there is any truth to the rumors of Ottawa having Tarasenko ready to sign, Dorion likely has a hockey trade in his back pocket as a fallback if the DET/NYI long term extensions do not materialize. One that frees up cap space to sign Tarasenko and brings in a player of appropriate star power (on/off the ice) so that the fans can accept the return. It won't be a comparable player, but if he turns around and gets Tom Wilson and the cap space for Tarasenko, he can easily justify Ottawa being a better team next year, even if it is atrocious asset management.

Lots of maybe's. Let's see what plays out.

Apparently a conditional first, a fourth rounder, Kubalick & Subrango was the final answer