What should Bruins do with Jake DeBrusk as NHL trade deadline nears?
What should Bruins do with Jake DeBrusk as NHL trade deadline nears? originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Just hours before the trade deadline in the previous season, the Boston Bruins signed David Pastrnak to the highest-paying deal in team history. Will another seasoned wing sign an agreement with the Boston Bruins before the March 8 NHL trade deadline this year?The best forward available to Boston in unrestricted free agency this summer is Jake DeBrusk. After the season, his $8 million, two-year deal will expire.
Thursday is one month away from the trading deadline. Is DeBrusk beginning to feel like this is actually happening?DeBrusk told reporters on Sunday, “Looking at it, I think it’s felt pretty real all year, to be honest.” “I believe that since training camp started, it’s been something you want to finish as quickly as possible.
Does DeBrusk have optimism that something will get done?
“I’m always hopeful,” DeBrusk remarked. “I think it would be quite gloomy if I didn’t have hope that I would still be here. It’s one of those tasks that I really hope is completed. You know, there’s a reason I have an agency. It goes without saying that I have spent my entire career at this company. I think I understand my place in this lineup. With the guys in this room and the city as a whole, I feel like I know where I am and where the highs and lows are.”From the aforementioned comments, it appears that DeBrusk wants to remain here. How much do the Bruins value DeBrusk is the actual question.The first-round selection in 2015 has experienced a turbulent time in Boston. In Game, he scored the game-winning goal.
DeBrusk tied a career high with 27 goals last season. He’s also become a much better two-way player under head coach Jim Montgomery. DeBrusk’s 1:52 of shorthanded ice time per game ranks third among B’s forwards this season. Two years ago he averaged just 0:38 of time on the penalty kill per contest. DeBrusk contributes in other areas when he’s not scoring goals consistently. That wasn’t really the case earlier in his career.
However, he can still occasionally be a difficult player, and a lot of that is due to his inconsistent play. DeBrusk is a goal scorer who can be hot or cool. As an illustration: During the season’s first 16 games, he only managed one goal. In the first eleven games in December, he failed to score. However, in his last 16 games following the end of the holiday break on December 26, he has totaled 14 points (eight goals, six assists).For a number of reasons, maintaining DeBrusk over the long run is the best course of action, even with the inconsistency.
The B’s can afford it, to start. According to CapFriendly, they should have about $28 million in salary cap room this summer. That’s sufficient to re-sign Jeremy Swayman and DeBrusk and complete the roster. They won’t have any severe salary cap issues if they sign DeBrusk.Not extending DeBrusk and letting him depart for nothing as a free agent this summer would also be considered asset mismanagement. He is too important a player to let go in that manner. You can always move him later if circumstances change if you sign him to an extension.This summer’s class of free agents is similarly lacking, especially in forwards. The top goal scorers among qualifying players as of February 5 are shown below.
- Sam Reinhart, RW, FLA: 37 goals
- Jonathan Marchessault, RW, VGK: 25 goals
- Jake Guentzel, LW, PIT: 22 goals
- Steven Stamkos, C, TBL: 21 goals
- Tyler Toffoli, RW, NJD: 21 goals
- Joe Pavelski, RW, DAL: 19 goals
- Matt Duchene, C/RW, DAL: 17 goals
- Teuvo Teravainen, LW, CAR: 16 goals
- Adam Henrique, C, NJD: 15 goals
- Anthony Mantha, LW, WSH: 15 goals
How many of these players would you rather have than DeBrusk long-term? In the short term, Steven Stamkos is still an elite center, but what are the odds he leaves the Tampa Bay Lightning? Jake Guentzel is a very good goal scorer, but he’s two years older than DeBrusk and his stats wouldn’t be what they are if he didn’t play the vast majority of his ice time alongside Sidney Crosby.
DeBrusk is at least two years younger than all of these players. He already has three seasons of 25-plus goals. This season he is scoring at a 20.5-goal pace over 82 games. Players who can be relied on to hit the 20-goal mark on an annual basis are both not easy to find and not cheap to acquire. Add in DeBrusk’s improved defensive abilities, plus the fact that he is versatile enough to produce offensively at left and right wing, and you start to understand how valuable he is to the Bruins.
With 51 goals at even strength since the 2021–22 season began, DeBrusk is ranked 55th among all players. Tomas Hertl, Nik Ehlers, Brad Marchand, Tim Stutzle, Aleksander Barkov, Nazem Kadri, Nico Hischier, Elias Lindholm, Sam Reinhart, Owen Tippett, John Tavares, Brock Boeser, and numerous other players have scored fewer goals at even strength throughout that time.When examining the Bruins alone, the statistics indicate that DeBrusk has been among the group’s most productive players at even strength ever since the 2021–22 season started.
What would be a reasonable extension for DeBrusk?
A six-to-eight year deal worth between $5 million and $6.5 million per season makes sense. One interesting comparable is Lightning left wing Brandon Hagel, who signed an eight-year extension worth $52 million ($6.5 million salary cap hit) last August.Hagel had 64 goals in 211 career games when he signed that deal, which comes out to 0.303 goals per game. DeBrusk currently has 131 goals in 432 career games, or 0.303 per contest. Hagel will be 26 when his extension kicks in next season. DeBrusk will be 28 in October. You could argue Hagel is a little better than DeBrusk, but not by much.
A few weeks ago, the Philadelphia Flyers signed Owen Tippett, a left wing, to an eight-year, $49.6 million agreement with a $6.2 million budget hit. Tippett scored a career-high 27 goals in the previous season, just like DeBrusk. In 46 games this season, he has 18 for the Flyers. However, Tippett had never scored more than six goals in a single campaign before to 2022–2023. Furthermore, his defensive ability is far inferior to DeBrusk’s.For the Bruins, anything under $6.5 million a season would be a solid contract for DeBrusk. On the open market, players similar to him would fetch about that amount.It’s okay if the Bruins can find a better player than DeBrusk and wish to include him in a trade for that guy before the trade deadline. However, if you
Given his advanced age, offensive prowess, adaptability, and Bruins experience, DeBrusk is a solid pick to be retained in the long run. Getting a comparable player for less money would probably be challenging.
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