Multiple Teams Showing Interest In Jake DeBrusk

Jake DeBrusk’s time with Vancouver hasn’t quite gone as planned.  He hasn’t been quite as impactful as they were hoping for and the Canucks haven’t been as competitive as he was hoping for.  With that in mind, he has been a speculative trade candidate going back to before the trade deadline in March.

It appears that there is some interest in him if Vancouver looks to pursue a trade this summer.  Two league sources told Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch that there are a group of teams believed to be interested in DeBrusk, with the Senators believed to be among them.

DeBrusk is just two years into a seven-year, $38.5MM contract, so interested teams must have confidence that he will be able to bounce back after a tough year.  This season, he had 23 goals and 19 assists in 81 games.  Notably, 19 of his tallies came on the man advantage.  While it’s nice to have a strong power play producer, four even-strength goals from a forward making $5.5MM could raise some red flags.

That said, it’s not as if this has been a pattern in DeBrusk’s career.  In his time with Boston, he never had more than eight power play markers in a single season with nearly 77% of his goals coming at even strength.  In two years with Vancouver, it’s just 35%.  That should provide some cause for optimism that he can get back to being a reasonable producer at five-on-five with a new team and a fresh start.

If the Sens were to provide that opportunity, he’d already be joining a power play that was above league average this season, checking in at eighth overall with a success rate just under 24%.  That’s also where they finished in overall goals scored, meaning he’d be in an environment where he might not be counted on quite as much as he has been with the Canucks.  They also have ample cap flexibility to add him as they enter the summer with more than $16MM in cap room, per PuckPedia.

With things going sideways this season in the standings, it appears as if Vancouver is set to undergo at least a partial rebuild, if not a full one.  The 29-year-old probably wasn’t expecting to be in this spot given that when he signed with them, they were coming off a Pacific Division title and a second-round playoff appearance despite being down to their third-string goalie.  He was hoping to join a contender and they’re not going to be that for a while.

It’s worth noting that DeBrusk has a full no-move clause through next season so he holds a lot of the cards.  But if he feels that a change of scenery would be beneficial, this might be the summer to try to pursue it in a trade market that feels like it is going to be more robust than it has been in recent years.  Accordingly, he’s a player to keep an eye on over the coming weeks.