
LOS ANGELES — When Alex DeBrincat erupted for 41 goals in 2018-19, his second NHL season, he assumed it would become an annual occurrence.
A third-year slump compounded by bad luck, resulting just 18 goals in 70 games, sent his scoring confidence careening in the other direction. Then a global pandemic shortened his prolific fourth season, and despite scoring 32 goals in 52 games he didn’t have the runway to quite reach that plateau.