Two Free Agents Leave Bruins, Join Canucks With Jake DeBrusk

Jake DeBrusk won’t be entirely surrounded by new faces when he plays his first season outside of Boston.

A seven-year deal with DeBrusk was the first deal the Canucks announced on the first day of NHL free agency Monday. Not long after the veteran wing inked his new contract that’s worth $38.5 million, Vancouver announced free-agent deals with two more former Bruins: Danton Heinen and Derek Forbort.

Heinen landed a two-year contract with an average annual value of $2.25 million, per the team. The 28-year-old is coming off a bounce-back season in Boston where his second stint began with a professional tryout agreement. Heinen logged 36 total points in the regular season (17 goals, 19 assists) and spent a good chunk of the campaign playing on the Bruins’ first line.

Forbort received a one-year, $1.5 million deal from the Canucks, who lost some blue line depth when Nikita Zadorov landed with the Bruins. Forbort is coming off a 2023-24 season in which he was limited to 35 regular-season games due to serious injuries, but he showcased impressive toughness and resiliency when he overcame expectations and managed to return to the Bruins for the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

And while we’re on the theme of former Bruins, another pair of DeBrusk’s old teammates joined the same team Monday.