In less than a month we will have crowned the 2024 Stanley Cup champion. This means that 28 other teams’ seasons are over, the Boston Bruins being one of them. Here’s a look at winger Jake DeBrusk‘s campaign.
DeBrusk’s Inconsistent Regular Season
DeBrusk was streaky this season, certainly not what he was hoping for heading into a contract year. He started slow, scoring just one goal in the team’s first 15 games, and amid that stretch, he was benched for a Saturday night game against the Los Angeles Kings after being late to a team meeting.
However, DeBrusk was able to pick things up a bit, finishing the season with 19 goals and 21 assists in 80 games. This was down from 50 points in 64 games in 2022-23. Based on his regular season, he would probably receive a C: DeBrusk was not the impact player we saw a year ago. That is, until the playoffs.
DeBrusk’s Impactful Postseason
In the 2024 NHL Playoffs, DeBrusk was one of the team’s most impactful players. In the second period of Game 1 of their first-round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs, he won a puck battle behind the net and found Brandon Carlo, who slapped the puck home. He wasn’t done there. With five minutes to go in the period, the Bruins found themselves on the power play, and DeBrusk beat Ilya Samsonov on a beautiful wrist shot that hit the left post and found the back of the net.
Just two minutes later, he beat Samsonov again on the power play, this time off a redirect from just in front of the net. That second-period performance was likely DeBrusk’s best of the season, and he played a key role in the Bruins’ 5-1 win to kick off the series.
Related: Bruins Need to Reward Jake DeBrusk’s Two-Way Play with a Contract Extension
He continued to make an impact as the series went on. He collected an assist in their Game 2 loss, and, in Game 3, he broke a 1-1 tie a minute into the third period, scoring a power-play goal off of a rebound in front of the net. He went pointless over the final four games of the series but picked his game up in the second-round matchup against the Florida Panthers.
He scored an empty-net goal in Game 1, and after going pointless in Game 2, he picked up a goal and an assist in Game 3, factoring in on the Bruins only two goals of the contest. DeBrusk then registered an assist in each of the team’s final three games of the season, bringing his playoff total to a team-leading 11 points. His five goals also led the team, and his six assists trailed only Brad Marchand.
Player Grade: B
DeBrusk receives a B on the season, as his positive performance in the playoffs helped to offset an inconsistent regular season. The Bruins will have to decide what to do with the pending unrestricted free agent. On one hand, his regular season performance did not warrant the money he is likely looking for (that of a top-six forward). On the other, the Bruins probably don’t want to let their leading goal and point-scorer in the postseason walk, especially as the team struggled to score during the playoffs.
Management should bring him back on a one-year “prove-it” deal worth $5 million or less. If DeBrusk decides that he is looking for more in terms of term or dollar value, the team should not (and, if GM Don Sweeney’s post-elimination comments were any indication, will not) overpay to keep the winger in Boston.
