Not great, not horrible, just…yeah.
Jake DeBrusk’s 2024 rating: 5.5
At long last, the 2015 NHL Draft can be buried.
(Just kidding, Bruins fans will talk about it for the next decade anyways.)
With Jake DeBrusk’s departure for Vancouver, the last piece of that ill-fated first round draft class has left the Bruins organization, joining Jakub Zboril and Zach Senyshyn in plying his trade elsewhere.
DeBrusk leaves as inarguably the most successful pick of the three, mostly living up to that first-round billing by becoming a regular 20ish goal scorer with a flair for showing up in big games.
However, it’s also fair to say that DeBrusk leaves the Bruins as a guy who always seemed like he could have (should have?) done a little bit more, a guy who was always good, but never quite great.
DeBrusk came into last season on the heels of his best-ever NHL campaign, where he recored his first 50-point season (27G-23A) after being freed from his beef with Bruce Cassidy.
Plus, DeBrusk knew at the start of the season that he’d be playing for his big payday, as he entered the season in the final year of his contract.
As we sit here in August of 2024, we can say that DeBrusk’s season was…fine. It wasn’t great. It wasn’t terrible. It was adequate, deserving of its very middle-of-the-road 5.5.
It wouldn’t be too harsh to call his season a bit disappointing: he had ten fewer points than the 2023 season, despite playing in 16 more games and, as mentioned above, playing for his next contract.
However, he remained a reliable contributor for the most part, coming within a goal of hitting that 20-goal mark for the third season in a row.
(It’s also worth noting that his 10.4% shooting percentage was the lowest of his NHL career, aside from his difficult, COVID-affected 2021 season.)
I don’t recall many moments of being blown away by DeBrusk’s performances last season. He didn’t have too many standout games.
He also didn’t standout in a negative way. He was, again, fine.
As the season wore on, it became pretty clear that DeBrusk was heading to free agency. He said the right things in expressing a desire to stay, “we’re working on it,” etc.
Basically, the Bruins felt like they made their best realistic offer; DeBrusk felt he could get more elsewhere, and he did, earning a seven-year, $38.5 million contract with the Canucks.
I’m not sure I’d call that a terrible contract, but it’s one you can understand the Bruins avoiding.
Ultimately, his tenure with the Bruins ended on a relatively high note, as he recorded 11 points in 13 playoff games.
Three of those points came in Game 1 against Toronto, and he had an uncharacteristic no-show stretch for the last four games of that series.
However, he registered at least a point in all but one game of the Florida series, so you can’t really point the finger at him.
Still, as mentioned earlier, you couldn’t help but feel like he could have provided more, fairly or unfairly.
DeBrusk was a good player for the Bruins, recording 138 goals in 465 regular season games and an additional 27 goals in 86 playoff games.
There were times, especially against Toronto in the playoffs, where he was electric; there were other times where he’d be relatively invisible for a stretch of games.
To me, DeBrusk’s time with the Bruins seemed to have run its course. You can’t blame him for seeking a big contract, nor can you blame the Bruins for being unwilling to meet that Vancouver valuation.
He was ready for a change of scenery, and the Bruins were ready to let that happen. We’ll still be friends, etc.
DeBrusk certainly wasn’t a flop. He didn’t really deserve the flak he got from some segments of the fan base.
He was a reliable scorer and, for the most part, a hard worker whose game became more well rounded as his career progressed.
But is there more to his game? Does he have that extra gear, that ability to take over games on a more regular basis?
I guess that’s up to Vancouver to find out now.