Canucks DeBrusk
“He hasn’t yet,” according to his father Louie DeBrusk, who fought his way through the NHL as a winger for 401 regular season games before becoming one of league’s top TV colour commentators.
In reference to his son Jake, presently a winger for the bottom dwelling Vancouver Canucks, DeBrusk hasn’t learned of a trade request as of yet, but he did go on to speak of his 29-year-old offspring’s hockey attributes and some of the NHL teams that would be a good fit.
Jake has five years remaining on a contract that carries a $5.5-million salary cap hit per season. He signed the deal with the Canucks on July 1st, 2024, shortly after Vancouver came one win short of the Western Conference Final.
Instead of continuing an upward trajectory, the club has fallen on hard times, to put it kindly. The roster has imploded, with key players and head coach Rick Tocchet hitting the highway.
One shouldn’t fault a player in his prime like DeBrusk for potentially wanting out, particularly after being sold a ‘bill of goods’. The present incarnation of the Canucks is not what he signed up for.
Vancouver management’s priority will be to first move the unrestricted free agents. Forwards Evander Kane, David Kampf and Teddy Blueger reside on that list. Players with term, namely Brock Boeser and top centre Elias Pettersson have also garnered rumours, although both of their stocks are down and their contracts long.
Just one of the many predicaments Vancouver management has created.
DeBrusk is presently third on the Canucks with 27 points and tied for second with 13 goals.
The NHL trade deadline is March 6th.
Earlier Canucks:
— Vancouver Can’t Dump Management; Why Again??
Debrusk may not have signed up for the way the team has performed, but his performance is not what the Canucks expected either. He is part of the problem not a victim of it.
Hard to gauge him and others with the depleted line-up and the constant change. Part of it out of their control, part of it a result of previous management activities. At the same time, hard to say if he’s high maintenance.