Less than a year from now, Jake DeBrusk could be one of the hottest commodities on the open market. Or he could be ready to start what should be a long-term, lucrative contract with the Bruins.
Right now, it’s anyone’s guess which way that goes. But in speaking with NHL.com at the Perry Pearn 3 vs. 3 Hockey Camp, DeBrusk – scheduled to become a UFA next summer – expressed his desire to remain with the team that took him in the first round of the 2015 draft (14th overall).
“I’m hoping to stay. It’s the only team that I know and the team that I grew up with,” DeBrusk said on Tuesday. “Hopefully it goes in that direction, and we’ll see how it goes. That’s why I have an agent (Rick Valette), and I told him I wanted to stay out of this one and in time, it’ll be nice when it all gets done.”
Rarely does a player in DeBrusk’s situation declare “I want out” in such a setting, though DeBrusk figuratively did just that two years ago when Valette publicly revealed his trade request.
But that seems like ancient history. The coach with whom he butted heads, Bruce Cassidy, was fired after the 2021-22 season (and promptly won the Stanley Cup with the Vegas Golden Knights in his first season there) and DeBrusk’s career got back on track. He’s blossomed into an all-situations player who matched a career-high 27 goals last season despite missing a month with a broken leg he suffered in the Winter Classic, before scoring the winning goal. He does seem much happier now.
Whether the sides can see eye to eye on the player’s value remains to be seen. The B’s valued DeBrusk enough not to be forced into a trade when the request became public, and valued him enough to sign him to a two-year extension worth an average annual value of $4 million on the trade deadline day in 2022.
But if he can stay on the same upward trajectory, and stay healthy, DeBrusk will most likely earn a sizable raise. One reasonable comparable would be the contract that the Tampa Bay Lightning gave to Brandon Hagel this summer, a max eight-year deal worth an AAV of $6.5 million. Drafted a year after the 26-year-old DeBrusk, Hagel has posted 64-68-132 totals in 211 NHL games. DeBrusk has 119-107-226 totals in 385 games.
“It’s not my first time going through this. It’s my third time my contract is up with them,” DeBrusk said. “I kind of know what to expect, although it’s a little bit different with now being a UFA. I’m not too focused on that. I’ve kind of tested the waters before and I’m just going to focus on hockey.”
DeBrusk has yet to hit the 30-goal plateau, something that Hagel did for the first time last season. DeBrusk believes its well within reach, and the number is part of his motivation for the upcoming season.
“Last year when I got injured in the Winter Classic, I was just really starting to come into my game, so it made me a little bit angry because I thought I was going to go on kind of a heater there, which probably would have ended up being 30 or 35 (goals),” said DeBrusk. “But it’s easy to say that, and everyone starts at zero and you go from there.
“If I stay healthy, I think I can score 30 this season. I’ve knocked on the door twice with 27 (also in 2018-19), and I have 25 in there as well (in 2021-22). I think if I stay healthy, that’s obviously the goal, to finally get to that 30 mark.”
There will be a different center feeding him the puck. Patrice Bergeron, with whom he played for a year-plus, and David Krejci, with whom he played the first couple of years, have retired. Coach Jim Montgomery said last week that he tentatively had him penciled in to play right wing on a line with center Charlie Coyle and left wing Brad Marchand.
“There are a lot of different expectations, especially with everything that’s changed with the center position,” DeBrusk said. “Losing Bergy and Krech, those are pretty big losses. In saying that, I think there were a lot of people who didn’t think we were going to make the playoffs last season, and so we’re back in the same position.”