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Jake DeBrusk wants to prove people wrong, will he? |
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Jake DeBrusk will be forever linked to general manager Don Sweeney’s blunder in the 2015 Entry Draft.
There were the Bruins, holding three straight picks in the first round: picks 13, 14 and 15.
At 13, they took Jakub Zboril, Central Scouting’s 12th ranked North American skater. Sweeney followed the Zboril pick by drafting Jake DeBrusk at 14 (ranked 19th) and then went off the board with Zach Senyshyn (ranked 38th).
While Zboril was right in range, DeBrusk a slight reach, Senyshyn was a head scratcher. The immediate aftermath of the Bruins first-round hat trick—or lack thereof— wasn’t so much about who they did draft, it was more about who they didn’t draft.
Mathew Barzal was pegged to go in the top-15, ranked the 11th best North American skater. Once he fell past 10, 11 and then 12, he was supposed to be one of the three drafted by the Bruins.
Instead, he immediately went next, selected 16th overall by the New York Islanders. Kyle Connor to the Jets and Thomas Chabot to the Senators followed.
Six years later, the botched 2015 Entry Draft is one of the black clouds that hover over Sweeney’s tenure as general manager of the Bruins.
And because of that, Zboril, DeBrusk and Senyshyn will forever be linked to the 2015 draft and always compared to what Barzal, Connor and Chabot have done in the past and continue to do.
By all accounts, DeBrusk’s rookie season in 2017-18 was an impressive one. His blue-collar style of play immediately earned the respect of Bruins fans, a season that saw DeBrusk score 16 times and add 27 assists.
It was a solid first impression, but a rookie campaign that left more to be desired. DeBrusk in ways, took a step forward the following year. He increased his goals total by 10, but only had 15 assists. One total point less than the previous season. He also missed 12 games.
In his two seasons since, DeBrusk has struggled with consistently being a productive part of the Bruins offense. Injuries, healthy scratches and lengthy scoring droughts have defined his previous two seasons with this past season by far being the worst of his NHL tenure.
In 41 games DeBrusk scored five times and had nine assists. Simply not close to what the Bruins needed from the 24-year-old DeBrusk, someone the Bruins counted on to provide secondary scoring in a top-six role.
Even for players like Connor McDavid, Brad Marchand and Auston Matthews, the 2020-21 season was a difficult one to navigate through. While things gradually got better as the season went along—well, in the United States at least—playing though a global pandemic was still difficult.
DeBrusk tested positive for COVID-19 in the middle of the season. Combine the frustration of missing time due to the virus with his lack of production on the ice and it resulted in one difficult year.
It even got to the point where DeBrusk admitted he wasn’t having fun, citing his on-ice struggles for that. DeBrusk opened up some more last week about a season he wants to forget.
“This year was difficult. Obviously learned a lot, how to deal with COVID and all the things that come with it. I feel like everyone in the world can say the same thing. Coming home after road trips and stuff like that, day to day. I mean, isolation is the cute word everyone likes to use. I think I talked about a little bit earlier in the year, to be honest with you. It was difficult, I wasn't able to see my family. It was one of those things where it was just hockey all the time. Wasn't that great of a year,” said DeBrusk.
“Like I said, I learned a lot and how to deal with that. It was just starting to get open and going here, so it was disappointing that we ended around this time. It's exciting and still a positive side to see that life's getting a little bit normal here. I think back home (in Canada) is starting to get going again, it was pretty shut down there, too. Just kind of take it step by step each day and go from there.”
The signing of Craig Smith and the trade deadline acquisition of Taylor Hall forced DeBrusk into a bottom-six role. Too, his play on the ice didn’t help. Even in a bottom-six role, faced with less pressure and responsibilities, DeBrusk struggled, especially in the playoffs.
The Bruins are now forced into a tough position with DeBrusk.
At 24-years old, you don’t want to give up on a young player, one drafted where he was in the first round, but at the same time, how long can you hold onto him before he really kills any value he has left, making it impossible to move him for anything of somewhat value.
The Bruins have had trade talks centered around DeBrusk in the past, and likely will continue to do so into the summer. He’s also an option for Seattle in the coming expansion draft.
Whether it’s here in Boston, out in Seattle or somewhere else in the league, DeBrusk wants to prove his doubters wrong.
He’s got plenty of them.
“I need to revamp some stuff. There were a lot of factors that went into this year. Things that I could control and couldn't control. I dealt with a lot of negativity as well. It's one of those things that it's something you have to learn, as you sign up. I'm a big boy, I can handle that, just became a little bit of an easy target. My haters had a lot to say this year,” said DeBrusk.
“My mindset is an interesting place right now. Every year it's obviously different, disappointing obviously while hopes were high. I've disappointed myself, and my team. I'm looking forward to this year, I've got to prove a lot of people wrong.”
As DeBrusk alluded to, now with things in Boston and around the world getting back to normal, DeBrusk can get away from hockey and get himself into a better place mentally.
With the season ending later than normal, DeBrusk and the Bruins won’t have as much time as they normally would after a second-round exit to get their bodies and minds ready for a new season.
September and training camp will quickly be here.
“I think with Jake, there needs to be a little time, personally. My conversations with Jake I think would have been too raw the day after. So, the players have some time to themselves,” said head coach Bruce Cassidy.
“We’re going to sit down this week now that we’ve both digested and see if we can sort through a bit of the season and say, okay, let’s find some common ground on where you see yourself fitting into this lineup and where I feel you need to be better and see if we can sort through some of this stuff now that the season’s over.”
Should the Bruins resign Hall and David Krejci, or even replace them with similar top-six options, DeBrusk will be an important piece of what’s likely a third line role.
The Bruins secondary scoring disappeared in their series with the Islanders, it’s an area of concern once again in 2021-22.
“Sometimes, in seasons, players are just going to tell you what you want to hear at times. It’s up to me to dig a little deeper with him so we can get to the root of what’s going to make you the best player,” Cassidy added.
“Now, we’ve tried that, don’t get me wrong. Players have meetings with coaches, assistant coaches, etc. It’s his job to get himself ready. Part of it falls on the staff to get the best out of him. I know you’ve heard that before, but that is what we’re going to try to dictate. Hopefully we can find some common ground on that, and at the end of the day get him to where he needs to be.”
Getting DeBrusk to where he needs to be won’t happen overnight. It starts with figuring out what his role now is and building on it from there.
If DeBrusk really does want to prove his doubters wrong, getting to where he needs to be is the start he needs.
Boston Bruins Blogger • 
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