BOSTON — The NHL trade deadline is fast approaching, and the expectation is the Boston Bruins will have some feelers out.
If that’s the case and they’re looking to make a big splash, expect to hear Jake DeBrusk’s name come up quite a bit between now and Feb. 25.
The 22-year-old winger, although he’s been in a bit of a dry spell, has heaps of upside, which was made clear by the way he burst onto the scene as a rookie last season.
But if the Bruins are to go for a, say, Artemi Panarin or Vladamir Tarasenko type, the cost is going to be high. And while it’s not a certainty that the Bruins would need to part ways with DeBrusk in order to make that caliber of deal happen, it seems likely his name at least would come up in trade talks.
After the Bruins’ 6-3 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday, DeBrusk — who snapped a goalless streak of over a month in the win — was asked if the trade deadline was any sort of motivator for him to get on the scoresheet. In response, the winger offered some perspective on how he handles the rumors.
“Not at all to be honest with you,” DeBrusk said of rumors affecting him. “I mean I was traded in Juniors and I’ve heard about trade rumors since I’ve been with the Bruins. That comes with the territory. It doesn’t really affect me too, too much to be honest with you. Whatever happens, you can’t really control to be honest, so I don’t really think about that to be honest. Just a matter of me actually going out there and scoring. I was just missing that feeling a lot, so it was just nice to see it go in and obviously see (David) Krejci get two goals tonight and (Danton) Heinen get on the board as well. It’s all good signs, especially with (David Pastrnak) out right now. Hopefully, we can just keep it going.”
DeBrusk has a bright future, so it’s little surprise teams might try and pry him from the Bruins. But whatever conversations center around him over the coming days (and beyond, for that matter) and what rumors might come out, he sounds equipped to handle them.
