In case you missed it, Bruins’ Twitter was briefly aflutter last week with the rumor of a possible trade that involved Jake DeBrusk being sent to the New York Islanders for Jean-Gabriel Pageau.

Considering the two general managers that would be involved in such a deal – Don Sweeney and Lou Lamoriello – are not exactly known for their loose lips, chances are that little nugget was equal parts spitballing and speculation. Tis the season.

But it won’t be the last time DeBrusk’s name pops up in trade talk.

Such is life for a player of DeBrusk’s caliber who has just one year left on his contract before unrestricted free agency. Matt Grzelcyk, in the same boat, has been living with such rumors all summer.

The B’s will have to figure out DeBrusk’s intentions fairly quickly. And they also have to suss out just how much they would be willing to pay for DeBrusk’s services. He won’t come as cheaply as the $4 million AAV that the B’s will be paying him in 2023-24.

The B’s appreciate DeBrusk’s talents, as evidenced by Sweeney not giving in to the trade-him-for-a-bag-of-pucks crowd that only grew in numbers when DeBrusk’s trade request became public in November 2021.

That was a good decision. DeBrusk, a clearly talented but maddeningly inconsistent winger in his first few years in the league, suddenly seemed to get it. Former coach Bruce Cassidy, with whom DeBrusk no longer clicked, put him on a third line and he did the job. When he was needed on a fourth line, he did the job. And when Cassidy bumped him up to play with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand, he did the job there, too.

Last season, after Cassidy was fired and Jim Montgomery took over, DeBrusk continued his upward trajectory, showing up to play every night. If he had not missed a month with a broken leg, which he suffered in the Winter Classic before scoring both goals (so much for the lingering charges that he’s “soft”) in the 2-1 win, he would have been flirting with a 40-goal season. As it was, he tied a career high with 27, continued to prove himself as being equally adept at playing the natural left wing or off wing and he also showed that his speed could be a valuable weapon on the penalty kill. And he’s decent as a net-front presence on the power play. He’s not quite as good as the now departed Tyler Bertuzzi, but he’s serviceable there.

In other words, DeBrusk is an all-situations player who can skate and fill the net, and the B’s know it. He’s got plenty of value.

But how much will they be willing to pay? Would $6 million be too much for their liking? And would DeBrusk be willing to skip his first big crack at the open market to sign a long-term deal with the B’s?

While several free agents didn’t get the deals they had hoped for this summer – including Bertuzzi and Tomas Nosek – there is expected to be more money in the system with a better bump of the salary cap next year. On the other hand, more star power is projected to be in the free agent pool, including Auston Matthews, Steven Stamkos, Sebastian Aho, Jonathan Marchessault and Bertuzzi. Some of those players, of course, will no doubt have their situations resolved by July 1, 2024, but talent should be available, which would increase the competition for those extra dollars.

We reached out to his agent, Rick Valette, last week to try and gauge how DeBrusk is leaning but did not get a response.

The B’s were in the same spot at this time last year with David Pastrnak. But though it took a while to get the deal done, that situation never seemed to be one that was in danger of going off the rails. Pastrnak wanted to stay, the B’s wanted him and, with a rare talent like Pastrnak, it was clear that the B’s would have to pay up. And they did, with the richest contract in team history (eight years, $90 million).

But DeBrusk is not a franchise player like Pastrnak. He’s just a very good one, and it can be more difficult to land on a value for those type of guys.

In a perfect world, DeBrusk would remain a Bruin for a long time. Both player and team rode over some rough seas to get DeBrusk to where he is today. And he’s one of just two success stories (Brandon Carlo being the other) from that haunting 2015 draft.

But if the B’s get an inkling that DeBrusk wants to test the market, they have to act. And while the speculation that linked him to the centerman Pageau is logical, given the B’s need for centermen, it aims too low. Pageau is a good player, and one that has given the B’s fits, but he’s a third-liner.

If there’s not a long-term match here, the B’s should be looking to get DeBrusk back to his home province of Alberta in Calgary, where the Flames are no doubt looking for a good landing spot for Elias Lindholm, who thus far hasn’t been willing to extend past the last year of his deal that expires next summer. He’d be costly for the B’s to re-up, and that would have to be part of any potential deal, but Lindholm is the kind of two-way centerman that the B’s have been trying and failing to draft and develop over the last decade. There’s some fresh spitballing for you.

Two years ago when DeBrusk asked for a trade, the B’s held all the cards. It’s true that a lot has changed since then. But now the balance of power is shifting. How DeBrusk chooses to flex that newfound muscle could affect the direction of the franchise for years to come. …

If the sides can’t find common ground on contract extensions, we should find out this week how far apart the B’s are with restricted free agents Jeremy Swayman and Trent Frederic when the sides submit their arbitration offers. Swayman’s hearing is scheduled for July 30 and Frederic’s is set for Aug. 1 …

Lastly, would I like to know if Patrice Bergeron is coming back like everybody else? Of course. But if the captain decides he wants to play another year and is willing to somehow fit himself into the B’s current salary structure, I’m more than fine with the B’s giving him that space this summer to test out his body and make that decision.

And they should still pursue Elias Lindholm, whether Bergeron returns or not.