Red Wings sign 2-time All-Star forward Alex DeBrincat to 7-year contract worth $13 million per year

DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings signed two-time All-Star forward Alex DeBrincat to a seven-year contract worth $13 million per season on Wednesday.

The move provided desperately needed good news for a franchise mired in a decade-long postseason drought with an interim general manager, a former captain in limbo and an unsigned restricted free agent.

The 28-year-old DeBrincat has established himself as a productive offensive player in the NHL with 298 career goals and 603 points. He led the team and set a career high with 85 points last season and matched his career high with 41 goals, becoming the first player to have at least 40 goals for the Red Wings since Marian Hossa in 2009.

DeBrincat leads the Red Wings with four goals and eight points this season but they have lost five of their first six games. Detroit hosts Philadelphia on Thursday night.

Chicago selected DeBrincat in the second round of the 2016 draft. He was an All-Star with the Blackhawks during the 2022 season and was traded to Toronto the following offseason, The Red Wings acquired the Farmington Hills, Michigan, native from the Ottawa Senators in 2023 and he was an All-Star in his first season in Detroit.

DeBrincat's extension is a positive development for a franchise that has had a string of negative news.

Detroit demoted former general manager Steve Yzerman in July, giving him an advisory role to owner and CEO Chris Ilitch, and named Shawn Horcoff interim GM after failing to hire one during a search.

Dylan Larkin asked for a trade during the offseason and after the team did not move the the 30-year-old center, he was stripped of his captaincy. Larkin was booed when he was introduced before the season-opening game while he was not in uniform, recovering from an upper-body injury.

When the Red Wings were preparing to start the season earlier this month, defenseman Simon Edvinsson was seen training with a team in his native Sweden. The 23-year-old restricted free agent had nine goals and 25 points in 72 games last year, his second full season in the NHL. Detroit drafted him No. 6 overall in 2021 and he has 19 career goals and 60 points in 175 games.

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Detroit Red Wings center Dylan Larkin (71) and right wing Alex DeBrincat (93) celebrate a goal by left wing Viktor Arvidsson (33) against the Ottawa Senators during the second period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)

Detroit Red Wings right wing Alex DeBrincat (93) celebrates his goal against the New Jersey Devils in the third period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jacob Fowler (32) stops Detroit Red Wings' Alex DeBrincat (93) during second period of an NHL hockey game in Montreal on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)

Detroit Red Wings left wing Viktor Arvidsson, second from right, celebrates with, from left, center Dylan Larkin, right wing Alex DeBrincat and left wing Lucas Raymond (23) during the second period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Philadelphia Phillies are keeping Don Mattingly as manager, removing his interim tag and giving him a two-year deal even after a late-season collapse nearly cost the team a playoff spot.

Team president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski announced the move Wednesday. Mattingly led the team to a 79-55 record and a spot in the postseason after he replaced the fired Rob Thomson in late April. The Phillies nearly blew a four-game lead for a wild card in the final week of the regular season, then lost in three games to the Atlanta Braves in the NL Wild Card Series.

The Phillies were 9-19 when they fired Thomson in April after he led the Phillies to four straight playoff appearances, including the 2022 World Series, and consecutive NL East titles.

Dombrowski and the Phillies were rebuffed twice by former Red Sox manager Alex Cora. Dombrowski was spurned by Cora when he made the move to fire Thomson and again after the season ended, leaving him in both cases with Mattingly.

The 65-year-old Mattingly was hired last offseason to serve as a bench coach and had another year left on his contract. With an MLB work stoppage on the table in December, leaving at least parts of next season in doubt, Mattingly is the safe and familiar choice to oversee a roster that includes Bryce Harper, Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber and one of the top rotations in baseball.

Dombrowski has yet to hold his annual end-of-season press conference — he and Mattingly will speak Thursday, the team said. The Phillies were eliminated from the playoffs on Oct. 1.

The Phillies' September swoon prevented them from lining up their pitching against Atlanta because it took until Game 162 to clinch a playoff spot.

Philadelphia forced Game 3 against the Braves with three dramatic solo home runs late in Game 2. But in the end, the Phillies were eliminated from the postseason for the fifth consecutive year as they chase their first World Series title since 2008.

The Phillies’ core of Harper, Schwarber, J.T. Realmuto, Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola have made five straight playoff appearances and averaged 91 wins per year during that stretch. They have yet to win a championship and have been eliminated further and further from that goal each season since reaching the 2022 World Series.

The following season, Philadelphia exited in the National League Championship Series, and the next two years saw losses in the Division Series. A wild-card exit this season marked another step in the wrong direction.

Mattingly was one of three interim managers in baseball last season. Andy Green of the New York Mets and Chad Tracy of the Red Sox each were midseason replacements who eventually had the interim tag removed.

A six-time AL All-Star in his playing career with the New York Yankees, Mattingly is the father of Phillies general manager Preston Mattingly.

See AP’s full MLB coverage here

Philadelphia Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly walks to the mound against the Atlanta Braves in the seventh inning during Game 2 of baseball's National League Wild Card Series Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)