EDMONTON — Jake DeBrusk has known only one team during his NHL career, and the 26-year-old forward would like to keep it that way.
“I’m hoping to stay [with the Boston Bruins]. It’s the only team that I know and the team that I grew up with,” DeBrusk said at the Perry Pearn 3 vs. 3 Hockey Camp 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.”
DeBrusk, who is entering the final season of a two-year, $8 million contract ($4 million average annual value) he signed with the Bruins on March 21, 2022, can become an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career after this season.
Prior to signing that contract, though, DeBrusk had requested a trade from Boston.
“It’s not my first time going through this. It’s my third time my contract is up with them (he also signed a two-year, $7.35 million contract Nov. 23, 2020),” 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.”
Last season, DeBrusk set NHL career highs in points (50) and power-play points (14), and tied his career high in goals (27) despite missing nearly seven weeks after sustaining a hand injury and fracturing his fibula against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2023 Winter Classic.
Video: PIT@BOS: DeBrusk nets two in Bruins’ win
“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),” DeBrusk said. “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.”
Boston will need that kind of production out of DeBrusk after centers Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci each retired during the offseason. The Bruins also traded forwards Taylor Hall and Nick Foligno to the Chicago Blackhawks on June 26.
“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.”
The Bruins not only qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season, they set NHL records for wins (65) and points (135). However, they were eliminated by the Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference First Round, losing the final three games of the series, including 4-3 in overtime at home in Game 7.
“I think that’s in the past,” DeBrusk said. “It’s tough. It’s one of those things where we had high expectations breaking the record, and going from there, it’s kind of a hard fall. But I’ve also lost in the Final in Game 7 (to the St. Louis Blues in 2019), so it’s hard to compare to that.”
Although DeBrusk admitted it will be difficult for the Bruins to match their regular-season success from 2022-23, he still expects them to be one of the top teams in the East.
“You start from Game 1, just like any other season,” DeBrusk said. “You want to build your game and you want to improve on what you can do out there and try to earn more opportunity. I think it’s one of those things where we’re not really concerned with what people say about our team. I think we’re a pretty solid group, we have lots of guys that are there that got us to that point, (and) we added a couple of guys at the deadline. Some guys that have left does change things, but I’m focused on Game 1. It’s the only way to do it.”
