Former Bruin and current Vancouver Canucks forward Jake DeBrusk joined “The Cam & Strick Podcast” on Tuesday , and said Vancouver’s contract offer was one of “a lot of offers” he received while on the open market.
“There was a lot of offers, from different kinds of varying years and [average annual value], I guess,” said DeBrusk. “I obviously wanted to hear them all out. It was my first free agency. And there [were] good offers. Some of them [were] getting kind of close to what I wanted. But in saying that, Vancouver hit everything on the head. So it was kind of hard to compete with that deal. And even if so, you know, I was really feeling strong my gut was telling me Vancouver.”
DeBrusk signed a seven-year, $38.5 million contract with the Canucks . The contract has an average annual value (AAV) of $5.5 million. He’s one of three former Bruins heading to Vancouver for the 2024-2025 season, as Danton Heinen was signed for two years, $4.5 million ($2.25 million AAV), and Derek Forbort for one year, $1.5 million.
DeBrusk told former NHL tough guy Cam Janssen and veteran NHL reporter Andy Strickland that the Canucks were the “front runners going into free agency,” which helped him rest easy on Free Agency Eve. But that good night’s sleep was followed by a hectic day of balancing incoming offers and messages from people from around the league.
“Vancouver reached out, and I knew they were pretty much the front runners going into free agency. So the night before I felt pretty calm. But after the fact, it was pretty stressful. There was just so many messages, lots of people with support. Calling people, figuring it all out, and trying to reply to messages and stuff - I think that was, for me, I’m not very good at my phone, and that was a little stressful.”
In his seven seasons in Boston, DeBrusk amassed over 40 points 5 different times, with his career high of 50 points coming during the historic 2022-2023 regular season. He’ll be joining a talented Canucks team that won the Pacific Division last season with 109 points.
DeBrusk also spoke once again about the awkward feelings he had around requesting a trade while still a member of the Bruins. He said that while it was “very uncomfortable to go in the rink” the day after his trade request went public, his teammates understood why he wanted to be moved.
“They were all good with me. They understood why, in the room. They knew it was just me trying to find a better fit for my career to have a longer NFL career, and a better chance at something.
“It was one of those things where I didn’t want to play bad in this time, either, because I wanted them to get something back in return that was respectable as well. Because I know when you go public with something like that, it just tanks your value. So it was nothing against the team.”
DeBrusk said he and the Bruins both needed a “fresh start,” and that he felt like his game was regressing with the role he was in.
“At that point, I was just fighting for my career. At that point, I was just like, ‘you know, I think that I can add more than what is happening here.’ I didn’t see anything changing, in a sense, for my own game. My game was getting worse. I was thinking about ten different things.”
In signing with Vancouver, DeBrusk finally gets to see if the grass is greener on the northwest wide of the border.
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