Jake DeBrusk spent his first eight NHL seasons with the Boston Bruins. That chapter of his life came to a close when the 27-year-old signed a seven-year, $38.5 million contract with the Vancouver Canucks on the first day of free agency on July 1.
Even though DeBrusk will no longer don the Black and Gold Spoked-B, he plans to bring what he’s learned during his tenure with the Bruins to the Canucks — especially what he learned from the franchise’s leaders throughout the years like Zdeno Chara, Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand.
“I think spending so much with those guys and even just in different years, different guys coming in like David Backes,” DeBrusk said on “The Cam & Strick Podcast” on Tuesday. “(The Bruins) have had a lot of veterans come through my career. You just try to take pieces from guys.
“I’m not going to change who I am. I think there’s things you can adjust, but what I’m bringing to (the Canucks) is just exactly that foundation that I’ve been around for eight years.”
DeBrusk said being around people every day who are striving for something and are highly motivated to succeed get into the same routines, and he believes there are things he can bring from Boston to a young Vancouver team.
“I’ve had experience, so it’s one of those things where I hope I can take as much of that from them,” he explained. “I’m not gonna say I’m gonna be a Patrice Bergeron or Brad Marchand or Zdeno Chara, but I think it’s the things they’ve laid down and they emphasized every single day is something that’s helped me continue to be a good pro and a better person.”
DeBrusk tallied 138 goals and 128 assists in 465 games for the Bruins. After being a healthy scratch in the 2021 postseason, DeBrusk made two separate trade requests but ultimately rescinded and signed a two-year contract extension ahead of the trade deadline in March 2022.
The homegrown winger said he believed there was “a path” for him to stay in Boston following the second-round exit from the playoffs in May, but talks between the Bruins and DeBrusk’s camp stalled before free agency, allowing the Edmonton native to test the market.
DeBrusk will return to Boston on Nov. 26 when the Bruins host the Canucks at TD Garden.
