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.
Debrusk is a #6/7 forward on a championship team. Like the player but if they want Krug around ship Jakey out if he won’t take whatever’s left.
The dude put up 27 goals last year and had 19 in 62 games before the stop with a real shot at 30. That’s a 6/7 to you on a championship team? He would have been #2 on the 2011 Cup team trailing only Luch by 3… last years winner he’d be 3rd by a handful…. second on the 2018 Cup winner…. but for you he’s be a 6/7? Only knock on him is he’s streaky.
The dude put up 27 goals last year and had 19 in 62 games before the stop with a real shot at 30. That’s a 6/7 to you on a championship team? He would have been #2 on the 2011 Cup team trailing only Luch by 3… last years winner he was 3rd a handful back of the leader…. he would have been second on the 2018 Cup winner…. but for you he’s be a 6/7? Only knock on him is he’s streaky.
The Bruins will trade Debrusk no doubt about that
If he’s willing to take a 2 year bridge I could see them coming to a reasonable number. Somewhere in the 4-5 range maybe? Who knows what the numbers are gonna look like in November