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Jake DeBrusk

Boston Bruins Re-Sign Jake DeBrusk

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The Boston Bruins have finally signed Jake DeBrusk, inking the restricted free agent forward to a two-year deal. The new contract will carry an average annual value of $3.675MM. DeBrusk was not eligible for salary arbitration. PuckPedia reports the salary breakdown:

  • 2020-21: $2.5MM
  • 2021-22: $4.85MM

It’s hard to know exactly what DeBrusk is for this Boston team. Is he the fourth musketeer behind David Pastrnak, Patrice Bergeron, and Brad Marchand, able to elevate a second line and provide enough secondary scoring to make the Bruins perennial Stanley Cup contenders? Or is he the inconsistent winger that scored just 35 points last season and bounced all over the lineup? After his 27-goal output in just 68 games during the 2018-19 season many may have answered the former, but this bridge deal proves that it is not yet decided.

Now 24, DeBrusk is a scouts dream, armed with speed, skill, and an in-your-face attitude that can knock opponents off their game (or into the press box). He has all the tools to be a top scoring threat in the NHL but is still frustratingly inconsistent and disappears too often. There’s no doubt that he can be an asset to any team, especially one like the Bruins who can usually (at least in recent times) look ahead to the playoffs before the season even begins. The postseason is where DeBrusk should thrive and he has shown he can be a difference-maker there, scoring 14 goals and 23 points in 49 games.

But the idea of signing him to a long-term, big-money deal still seems risky for the Bruins. This two-year bridge deal will give DeBrusk a chance to prove exactly what he is in the NHL and give Boston a better idea of how their financial situation will look down the road. Brandon Carlo will need a new contract after the upcoming season and Charlie McAvoy’s will now expire at the same time as DeBrusk—who, notably, will still be an RFA at the end of this deal. With Bergeron now firmly in his mid-thirties, David Krejci on the final year of his deal, and Zdeno Chara not even re-signed this fall, the veteran core of the Bruins could look very different by the time the team negotiates another contract with DeBrusk. If he has taken another step forward, perhaps he can be a part of the new core that takes over.

Of course, if there was any thought of moving on from the inconsistent winger this offseason, it probably went out the window when the Bruins received injury updates on Pastrnak and Marchand. Both players are expected to miss the beginning of the season after undergoing major surgery, meaning DeBrusk may actually get a chance to play next to Bergeron on the top line. At the very least he should receive increased minutes and a chance to prove he can produce at the very top of a lineup.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Snapshots: DeBrusk, Lindholm, QMJHL

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While the Rangers and center Ryan Strome are content with the two-year, $9MM deal he signed earlier this week, Boston Hockey Now’s Joe Haggerty posits that Bruins winger Jake DeBrusk’s asking price likely was negatively affected by this signing.  While the two situations are different – one was arbitration-bound and the other just coming off an entry-level deal – Strome’s $4.5MM price tag will be difficult for DeBrusk to eclipse on his next contract after he came off of a career-best 59-point season while DeBrusk had a career-low 35.  The 24-year-old is a good candidate for a bridge contract over the coming weeks and doing so would also give Boston a little bit of cap flexibility if GM Don Sweeney has his eyes set on trying to add someone else to their roster.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • The Flames are considering shifting Elias Lindholm into a full-time center role, notes Sportsnet’s Eric Francis. While he was drafted as a middleman, the 25-year-old has spent considerable time on the wing as well.  It’s worth noting that Lindholm and Mikael Backlund (another center) are their two longest-signed players up front with contracts running through 2023-24.  If they do go ahead with the transition and it goes well, it could potentially create some questions surrounding the long-term future of Sean Monahan, a player who has already been in trade speculation at times this offseason.
  • Kevin Dube of TVA Sports provides some details on a short-term bubble that the QMJHL is trying to put in place for seven teams that have been out of action for a month due to rising COVID-19 cases in Quebec. If it receives the green light, it would last ten days with each team playing in six games.  As the other Canadian junior leagues look to resume in 2021, they’ll certainly be keeping an eye on this in case they find themselves in a similar situation at some point.

Atlantic Notes: Stamkos, Domi, Debrusk

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There seems to be plenty of questions surrounding Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos, who has yet to make his playoff debut after undergoing core muscle surgery in early March and now has been listed as “unfit to play” with a lower-body injury. Now it looks like that if he will play in the playoffs it will have to be in the Stanley Cup Finals.

The Lightning and head coach Jon Cooper announced that Stamkos will miss the entire Eastern Conference Finals due to his undisclosed injuries, adding that he will update that status if anything changes. There was plenty of hope that Stamkos might be ready to return to the team and supplement the offensive powerhouse Lightning against the stingy defense of the Islanders. However, that won’t happen here and the team will have to win the series without him if they have any hopes of him returning for the playoffs.

If or when he returns, however, The Athletic’s Joe Smith believes that Stamkos will likely begin on the team’s second line and center both Alex Killorn and Anthony Cirelli as they likely won’t want to breakup the impressive play of the first-round combo of Brayden Point, Ondrej Palat and Nikita Kucherov.

  • With plenty of rumors swirling around Montreal Canadiens forward Max Domi after a disappointing second season with the team, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports on Hockey Night in Canada Saturday night that Domi’s agent, Darren Ferris, and Canadiens’ general manager Marc Bergevin met to discuss Domi’s future. Friedman notes that Domi is not requesting a trade out of Montreal. “The news got out that Max Domi has a new agent — he’s now represented by Darren Ferris,” Friedman said. “He met with Marc Bergevin, he didn’t really want to say too much about the meeting, but the one thing he was willing to say was that Max Domi has not asked for a trade from the Montreal Canadiens. I don’t know where this is going to go, but Domi has not asked to be traded.” Domi saw a 11-goal and 28-point decline in his statistics last year, something the team wasn’t thrilled about as Domi saw his playing time in the playoffs drop significantly to 14:21 of ATOI.
  • The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa (subscription required) writes the Boston Bruins are likely going to have a challenging time finding a new contract with restricted free agent Jake Debrusk. The forward is averaging 1.09 goals per 60 minutes of play on the team, the fourth-highest number on the team, besides the team’s top-line players. However, his inconsistency has showed at times as he has also been put on the team’s third line at times. However, with impressive numbers, he is in line for a contract similar to that of Travis Konecny (six years, $33MM) and Brock Boeser (three years, $17.63MM). However, with the flat salary cap, Debrusk may have to accept less in a short-term deal.

Atlantic Notes: DeBrusk, Panthers, Stralman, Sabres

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Several players from the Bruins have taken what could be called ‘hometown discounts’ to stay in the fold but pending RFA winger Jake DeBrusk may not be one of those.  In an appearance on CHED 630 (audio link), his agent Rick Valette indicated that their salary structure isn’t something they’re intending to factor into negotiations:

I would hope not. That’s not typically how I would approach that. Boston certainly has some internal things that they like to look at, but I’m going to try to not look at that.

DeBrusk has played around a 40-point pace for each of his first three seasons and while that should be enough to stop him from getting as much as some others from his draft class have already received (in the $5.5MM-plus range), he’s still looking at a sizable raise from his $863K base salary.  The Bruins are going to have some challenges keeping their team together with Torey Krug being among the notable unrestricted free agents out there so it’s quite possible that Boston GM Don Sweeney pushes for a bridge deal to give them a better chance of keeping everyone in the fold.

More from the Atlantic Division:

  • The Panthers plan to have four or five goalies attend training camp which begins next week, notes George Richards of Florida Hockey Now. Teams can technically carry as many goalies as they want but knowing they count against the 31 player maximum allowed to go into the bubble, it seems likely that number will be shaved down by the end of the month.  Richards adds that defenseman Anton Stralman, who indicated his concern with coming back to play in June, has reported to Florida’s facilities, suggesting he will play in their play-in series against the Islanders.  However, there will still be a small window to opt out once the new CBA and Return to Play agreement is ratified.
  • Veteran executive Rick Dudley is looking for a new team after parting ways with Carolina at the beginning of the month and while the logical fit seemed like the Sabres, John Wawrow of the Associated Press reports (Twitter link) that the 71-year-old will not be joining Buffalo. Dudley has been the Senior VP of Hockey Operations with his last two teams in Carolina and Montreal and should have little trouble finding a new organization over the coming months.

East Notes: Capitals Defense, Montreal Offer Sheet, Debrusk

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The Washington Capitals may be considered one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference, but they have their work cut out for them. The team struggled in the last two months before play was suspended with a mediocre 8-9-3 over their past 20 games. Much of their struggle is due to the team’s poor defense where head coach Todd Reirden was seen experimenting with different defensive combinations over that stretch, which included removing veteran Radko Gudas from the rotation altogether.

In a panel of writers, The Athletic’s Tarik El-Bashir (subscription required) writes that a new training camp couldn’t come at the right time for the Capitals who now have a second chance to find the right pairings and fix their leaky blueline. Much will depend on the players and how they perform at training camp, but there is hope that defenseman Michal Kempny might have more confidence now in his surgically repaired hamstring. The team will also hope Gudas can bounce back and push his way back into the lineup. The team might also get a boost from trade deadline acquisition Brenden Dillon, who will get a training camp to adjust to his new team. El-Bashir also notes the team could look to prospect Martin Fehervary, who will also be on the Capitals’ roster.

  • In a recent mailbag column, The Athletic’s Arpon Basu (subscription requires) responds to a question about offer sheets and St. Louis Blues defenseman Vince Dunn. Basu wonders whether the Montreal Canadiens might be an interesting destination for the 23-year-old blue liner since St. Louis is currently cap-strapped and have to deal with the contract of Alex Pietrangelo as well as the future contracts of Jaden Schwartz and Jordan Binnington. A significant offer sheet at around $4.2MM AAV would be very challenging for the Blues to match and would bring quite a few questions on whether Dunn is worth that much since. especially since he’s not even eligible for arbitration. That offer would only cost the Canadiens a second-round pick in compensation as well. Montreal is also the most recent team to use an offer sheet, having tried to pry away Carolina’s Sebastian Aho last offseason to no avail.
  • The Boston Globe’s Kevin Paul Dupont writes that head coach Bruce Cassidy is stuck once again with answering the question, ’Who will play alongside David Krejci?’ on the team’s second line. The scribe writes that while Jake Debrusk would seem to be a solid candidate to take that role, training camp could open up the possibilities of moving Nick Ritchie and Ondrej Kase into those roles where chemistry might not be that big of an issue with time to acclimate with Krejci. That would not be good for Debrusk’s stock as he will be a restricted free agent at the end of the year and finding himself on the third line wouldn’t help is value.

NHL Announces Player Gaming Challenge

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The NHL is trying desperately to stay relevant even as their season sits in limbo and have today announced a new feature for fans to tune into. The NHL Player Gaming Challenge will be a tournament of EA SPORTS NHL 20 games featuring players from each of the 32 organizations. The tournament will go for four weeks starting on April 30th. The league and EA will donate a combined $100,000 in support of COVID-19 relief.

Because the Seattle expansion franchise doesn’t have any players to represent them at this point, Luke Willson from the Seattle Seahawks of the NHL will carry the torch.

The full list of participants:

Anaheim Ducks: Cam Fowler

Arizona Coyotes: Conor Garland, Clayton Keller

Boston Bruins: Jake Debrusk, Charlie McAvoy

Buffalo Sabres: Brandon Montour

Calgary Flames: Noah Hanifin, Matthew Tkachuk

Carolina Hurricanes: Warren Foegele

Chicago Blackhawks: Drake Caggiula, Alex DeBrincat

Columbus Blue Jackets: Elvis Merzlikins, Zach Werenski

Colorado Avalanche: J.T. Compher

Dallas Stars: Stephen Johns, Jamie Oleksiak

Detroit Redwings: Madison Bowey, Anthony Mantha

Edmonton Oilers: Caleb Jones, Darnell Nurse

Florida Panthers: Jonathan Huberdeau

Los Angeles Kings: Michael Amadio, Blake Lizotte

Minnesota Wild: Devan Dubnyk, Jordan Greenway

Montreal Canadiens: Victor Mete, Nick Suzuki

Nashville Predators: Filip Forsberg

New Jersey Devils: MacKenzie Blackwood

New York Islanders: Matt Martin

New York Rangers: Chris Kreider

NHL Seattle: Luke Willson, Seattle Seahawks (NFL)

Ottawa Senators: Brady Tkachuk, Chris Tierney

Philadelphia Flyers: James van Riemsdyk

Pittsburgh Penguins: Zach Aston-Reese, Bryan Rust

San Jose Sharks: Evander Kane, Marcus Sorensen

St Louis Blues: Colton Parayko, Robert Thomas

Tampa Bay Lightning: Tyler Johnson

Toronto Maple Leafs: Zach Hyman

Vancouver Canucks: Thatcher Demko, Adam Gaudette

Vegas Golden Knights: Ryan Reaves, Alex Tuch

Washington Capitals: Evgeny Kuznetsov

Winnipeg Jets: Anthony Bitetto, Kyle Connor

Select games can be seen on NBC Sports and Sportsnet ONE. All matches will also air within NHL Network’s on-air programming or its Twitch channel.

Atlantic Notes: Krug, Fabbri, Moore

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While there has been plenty of debate on what the Boston Bruins should do with pending UFA defenseman Torey Krug this summer, there are other factors that the team must consider besides the team’s salary cap situation in the future.

The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa (subscription required) writes the Bruins also need to consider the upcoming Seattle expansion draft as well. The scribe writes that if Krug is retained, the team is more likely to protect four defensemen in Krug, Charlie McAvoy, Brandon Carlo and Matt Grzelcyk. The problem is the team would then only be able to protect four forwards, including Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak and either Charlie Coyle or Jake Debrusk. One of those two would likely be picked by Seattle.

However, if the team opted not to brink back Krug, the team might be able to choose the 7-3-1 protection format instead, which would allow Boston to protect those three defensemen (minus Krug) and then protect up to seven forwards, which might include two more forwards such as Danton Heinen and Anders Bjork as well.

  • Despite expecting to have some cap space this offseason, the Detroit Red Wings do have an inordinate number of restricted free agent forwards. In fact, the team has 11 RFAs they will have to deal with this summer. The Athletic’s Max Bultman (subscription required) examines some of the forwards and what their chances of coming back are. While Anthony Mantha’s status isn’t in doubt and Andreas Athanasiou status could end in a trade, there still are a number of forwards who could be fighting for a contract. The scribe writes that of all those forwards, many who must have solid campaigns this season, Robby Fabbri has definitely earned himself another contract with the Red Wings. The 23-year-old has established himself immediately with the team, posting 10 points in his first 13 games with the franchise. While it remains a long season and his offense could drop off, he has enough potential that it’s very likely the team will bring him back.
  • Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said the team could be getting back forward Trevor Moore soon, according to Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun. The 24-year-old has been out since Nov. 15 with a shoulder injury, but Keefe said that Moore could make his return by the end of the team’s current four-game road trip that starts today, which could put him on schedule to return at some point next week. Moore has averaged 14:00 per game and has three goals and five points in 21 games as a bottom-six forward.

Injury Notes: Bruins, Sabourin, Juolevi

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When the Boston Bruins placed Torey Krug on injured reserve earlier today, it was more a reflection of their injury-riddled lineup than it was the extent of his injury and timeline for recovery. While Krug is expected to miss at least a couple more games with an upper-body injury, the Bruins could not afford to wait that long to bring up reinforcements. Yet, the team had already recalled rookie Urho Vaakanainen to sub in for Krug, so it was veteran forward Paul Carey getting the all from AHL Providence. As it turns out, that move was made in response to Patrice Bergeron needing to take a seat tonight, as Boston hosts the Washington Capitals. Head coach Bruce Cassidy spoke to the media about the situation, indicating that Bergeron is dealing with a nagging lower-body injury, a frequent issue for the star center over the past few seasons, and the team feels that giving him the night off in the second game of a back-to-back may help to prevent the injury from lingering. Bergeron is considered day-to-day, but this is likely a case of load management and he could return to the lineup as soon as the team’s next game on Tuesday.

In more encouraging news for the injury-plagued Bruins, Cassidy noted that Krug skated this morning, as did forwards Jake DeBrusk and Brett Ritchie and defenseman John Moore, who has yet to play this season. Cassidy stated that Ritchie is the closest to returning and could be in play for Tuesday as well. The potential returns of Ritchie, DeBrusk, and Moore sooner rather than later would allow the Bruins to return to some state of normalcy, as they currently are lining up with an entire line – Carey, Par Lindholm, and Trent Frederic – of players who were not expected to have a regular role in Boston this season. The Bruins have done relatively well for themselves to not allow injuries to slow them down too much this season, but the team has struggled this past week or so and improved health would help to get them back on track.

  • Among the Bruins not yet ready to resume skating are Kevan Miller, Karson Kuhlman, Zach Senyshyn, and David Backes. Backes has been out since early November following a violent collision with Ottawa Senators forward Scott Sabourin, which left the latter hospitalized. There is no time table for Backes’ return, and the same goes for Sabourin. The Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch reports that the journeyman grinder has finally resumed working out, but exclusively off the ice. Sabourin has not been cleared to resume skating and the Senators have not released any details on when to expect him to return to play. While Backes’ history with head injuries it what is keeping him off the ice, it was very evident from the collision that it was Sabourin who received the more serious hit to the head and is likely dealing with a severe concussion.
  • Another season, another setback for Vancouver Canucks’ defensive prospect Olli Juolevi. Canucks GM Jim Benning announced that Juolevi has been removed from the roster of the AHL’s Utica Comets and is on his way to Vancouver to undergo medical testing. Although all reports out of Utica were that Juolevi’s recent absences from practice were precautionary, the status quo has clearly changed, as he is now expected to miss considerable time. This is purportedly a new lower-body injury plaguing Juolevi, unrelated to the issue that cost him all but 18 AHL games last year. The 2016 No. 5 overall pick seems as far away from making his NHL debut as ever before and it’s fair to begin wondering if he will ever be an impact player in Vancouver.

Atlantic Notes: Sabres, DeBrusk, Brown

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While the Sabres would ideally like to wait until both Zach Bogosian and Marco Scandella return from their injuries before dealing from their surplus of defensemen, Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News suggests that GM Jason Botterill may need to expedite that timetable.  Buffalo has reached the three-goal mark just once in their last seven games and not surprisingly, they’ve won just one in that span and have dropped out of the top three in the Atlantic Division.  With a lack of secondary scoring threats at the moment, they may not be able to afford to wait to see if things turn around.  The Sabres have a tough stretch coming up with 10 games in 17 days starting on Thursday and if their offensive struggles continue, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Buffalo turn some of their defensive depth into scoring help.

More from the Atlantic Division:

  • While the Bruins got wingers Par Lindholm and Joakim Nordstrom back for today’s game against Philadelphia, NBC Sports Boston’s Joe Haggerty reports that winger Jake DeBrusk will likely miss another week and appears to be targeting Saturday for a return date. He sustained his lower-body injury back on Tuesday against Montreal.  DeBrusk is off to a bit of a quiet start offensively with three goals in his first 15 games in the final season of his entry-level contract.
  • The Senators were hoping to have center Logan Brown available for Monday’s rematch against Carolina but Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch notes (Twitter link) that he has yet to be cleared for contact. However, he did accompany the team on the road trip and he hasn’t been ruled out for Wednesday’s contest against New Jersey.  Brown’s upper-body injury sustained last week certainly came at an inopportune time as he was holding his own in his first recall of the season following some strong comments from his agent back in October.

Atlantic Notes: Debrusk, Suzuki, Evans, Olofsson

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The Boston Bruins went to the wire with two of their restricted free agents this summer in Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo. Next year might be even worse. The team will have 10 free agents to deal with and another key restricted free agent in Jake Debrusk and will have to hope they can negotiate their way to avoid any holdouts.

Debrusk is coming off a 27-goal season, which would suggest a significant raise, especially if Debrusk can duplicate or even surpass last seasons numbers. NBC Sports’ Joe Haggerty writes that Debrusk has kept a careful watch on the negotiations with McAvoy and Carlo and hopes he also can avoid any kind of a holdout.

“Obviously that’s going to be my situation [as an RFA]. Hopefully not [as a holdout], but maybe, possibly next year just looking around the league you see different things with guys dragging it out,” said DeBrusk, who will be joined by Brett Ritchie and Matt Grzelcyk as next summer’s restricted free agents for the Bruins. “It’s one of those where you ask questions on the business side of it. Things change and different stuff happens with talks, but at the same time I mostly just try to stay out of it. I try to stay dialed in to get ready for training camp and the season. I guess when that time comes, though, I’ll be more aware of what to expect.”

  • The Athletic’s Marc Dumont (subscription required) writes that the Montreal Canadiens have two key players vying for a roster spot in an intense training camp. The team especially likes what it has seen so far from Nick Suzuki and Jake Evans. The Canadiens have given Suzuki a chance to play on the wing so he can challenge for a roster spot and the 20-year-old has fared quite well so far in the preseason. Evans is fighting for a job on the fourth line, but will have to beat out quite a few veterans to claim the job, including Nick Cousins, Nate Thompson and Jordan Weal.
  • Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News writes that with many young prospects on the Buffalo Sabres vying for a job with the team, one player that has nothing to worry about is forward Victor Olofsson. The scribe says that Olofsson is a lock to make the team as he has had a dominant camp thus far. The 24-year-olf Olofsson proved himself in the SHL in 2017-18 when he tallied 27 goals. Then he proved himself once again in the AHL last season when he potted 30 goals and scored a pair of goals for the Sabres in six late regular season games. The team has been

 

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