The Vancouver Canucks may have watched Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov walk away and sign with the Boston Bruins, but the team snagged a player back from Beantown. The Canucks agreed to a seven-year, $38.5 million contract with Jake DeBrusk in NHL free agent frenzy on Monday, general manager Patrik Allvin announced.
“Jake will be a great addition to our top six and gives us another offensive option up front,” said Allvin in the official release. “He is a smart two-way player who plays with pace. He isn’t afraid to go to the tough areas of the ice and uses his strong motor and determination to drive play.”
DeBrusk had a bit of a down year after a terrific 2022-23 campaign that saw the Edmonton native score a career-high 27 goals and 50 points in just 64 games. He followed it up with 40 points in 80 contests in 2023-24, adding 18 penalty minutes and a +4 rating.
But, like usual, he upped his game in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, scoring five goals and 11 points in just 13 games as the Bruins lost to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers in six games. That was after the B's once again downed the Toronto Maple Leafs in a Round 1, Game 7 thriller.
DeBrusk, who has played his entire career with the Bruins after being drafted No. 14 overall in the 2015 NHL Draft, should be an excellent complement to either JT Miller or Elias Pettersson in Vancouver.
And his playoff pedigree will be a huge bonus for a team that is looking to have consistent postseason success in the foreseeable future.
Jake DeBrusk is a proven playoff performer
Over 465 regular-season games with Boston, DeBrusk has recorded 138 goals and 266 points. But he has consistently improved his game in the postseason, scoring 27 goals over 86 games and adding 20 assists for good measure.
After requesting a trade in 2022 and then rescinding it, DeBrusk's last few campaigns in Massachusetts were tumultuous. His name was always in the rumor mill, although he played out the entirety of his last contract with the club, a two-year, $8 million pact signed in March of 2022.
It was no secret that the Canucks were looking to improve on the wing in free agency, with reports surfacing that they were frontrunners for Jake Guentzel. But he instead signed with the Tampa Bay Lightning, while two other top options in Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault were scooped up by the Nashville Predators on Monday.
Whether or not DeBrusk will start the 2024-25 campaign on the powerplay is up in the air, but he should be a lock on one of the top two lines. That was probably a reason he chose Vancouver, along with being closer to home in Western Canada.
It will be interesting to see if DeBrusk can return to his 2022-23 form along with some star linemates.
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