Jake DeBrusk remained optimistic throughout last season that a deal would get done to keep him with the Boston Bruins for the future.
After the two sides couldn’t come to a contract agreement, DeBrusk, who the Bruins drafted 14th overall in 2015, tested free agency waters for the first time in his career. And it led him to the Vancouver Canucks on Monday.
DeBrusk signed a seven-year deal worth $5.5 million annually on the first day of free agency and opened up about his experience in free agency that caused him to leave the Bruins and join the Canucks.
“It’s been a crazy process, obviously, free agency and going through it for the first time,” DeBrusk told reporters, per team-provided video. “But in saying that, in terms of obviously being in Vancouver, they were very aggressive. I knew I had a really good feeling about them. We were talking and things of that nature and things were looking like they were going to hopefully go in the right direction.
“It’s funny, I woke up pretty early today and felt like a pretty normal day and then as soon as I kind of got the confirmation that I was coming here, I’ve been overwhelmed throughout the whole day. It’s been really exciting and it’s something I just can’t wait to get to the city and I can’t wait to get started. I feel very lucky and honored to become a Vancouver Canuck.”
DeBrusk spent the first seven seasons of his NHL career with the Bruins, in which he accumulated 138 goals and 128 assists for 266 points in 465 regular-season games. He revealed he heard from some of his former Bruins teammates after the announcement of the signing and they passed on well wishes with DeBrusk beginning a new chapter.
“(My phone) has been blowing up, but they’re actually happy for me, at least for the Boston side of guys,” DeBrusk said. “I have lots of good friends over there and guys I’ve played with for a long time that understood something like this was probably going to happen, but they’re just really excited for me.”
DeBrusk isn’t the only player going from Boston to Vancouver. Danton Heinen and Derek Forbort also signed free-agent deals with the Canucks as they will keep on playing alongside DeBrusk. The Bruins took on two former Canucks players Monday by signing Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov.
Bruins general manager Don Sweeney, who said last week that Boston and DeBrusk didn’t have any “productive talks in quite some time,” didn’t seem to hold any hard feelings toward DeBrusk with the way things went.
“I wish Jake well,” Sweeney told reporters, per NESN. “Obviously, was a tremendous Bruin. Great opportunity for him in Vancouver as well as Danton and Derek. Somebody tweeted out maybe we should have just made a trade, it would have been easier.”
