Three teams who should trade for Bruins Jake DeBrusk

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Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney did a terrific job lining up draft picks to speed up a team reset in 2015.

The Bruins ended up with three consecutive picks in the middle of the first round and a huge opportunity to surround Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci and Tuukka Rask etc. with depth and secondary scoring.

The setup was terrific, but the execution was awful.

The Bruins took Jakub Zboril, Jake DeBrusk and Zach Senyshyn with the 13th, 14th and 15th overall picks. The next three players taken? Mathew Barzal, Kyle Connor and Thomas Chabot. Looking back at NHL Drafts to see what could have been is using 20/20 hindsight to an extraordinary degree. Every team in the league has regrets and would have done things differently if they were allowed to change their picks seven years later.

But has anyone ever had three consecutive picks go so poorly?

Bruins fans were forced to hang their hat on Jake DeBrusk at least turning into a solid second line scorer who battles and hits and does all the dirty work necessary to win hockey games. At least, that’s what they thought after he scored 27 goals and 42 points in 68 games in just his second NHL season.

Since then? He has 27 goals and 55 points in 123 games played. That includes just 14 points in 41 games last season and six points in 17 games this year.

It has culminated in DeBrusk asking the Bruins for a trade over the weekend after being made a healthy scratch.

He is just 25 years old, has a 27 goal season on his resume and has already scored 16 postseason goals in his NHL career. But, he has also been dogged with questions about his determination and work ethic. Those are not good things to have hanging over your head if you are a young hockey player.

DeBrusk also earns $3.675 against the salary cap this season. He is a restricted free agent after this season and since his salary for the year is $4.85 million, that is what his qualifying offer will be at the end of the season. So, he either gets offered nearly $5 million or he becomes an unrestricted free agent at season’s end.

These things make his trade request difficult to navigate, but there will still be teams willing to deal for DeBrusk. These three teams make the most sense.

Edmonton Oilers

The Edmonton Oilers make a lot of sense for Jake DeBrusk for a couple of reasons. First, his father Louie played in Edmonton for the first half of his career, and the Alberta capital is Jake’s hometown as well. He even played his Junior hockey just down the highway in Red Deer.

Also, with Kailer Yamamoto struggling to produce offence this season, he has five points in 20 games, the Oilers could use one more top six winger. DeBrusk hasn’t produced at his best this season either, but what better motivation does a player need than being put on a line with Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.

DeBrusk would just need to battle consistently and drive the net to bang in rebounds and finish off Nugent-Hopkins and Draisaitl’s terrific setups. It would be a perfect spot for DeBrusk to get back to his offensive production of a couple years ago.

The problem is cap space. The Oilers are already up against it and would need to move out almost as much as they would take in. DeBrusk’s cap hit is $3.675 so the Oilers would need to move out about $3 million to make it work.

The only player making more than $3 million that the Oilers would even consider parting with is Zach Kassian. But, would the Bruins want anything to do with his $3.2 million cap hit and three years of term remaining? No, they would not.

The only way this trade works out financially is if the Oilers can convince the Bruins to retain salary, and take on Kyle Turris and his $1.2 million cap hit. While the Oilers will surely be interested in a 25 year old hometown boy who scored 27 goals not long ago, their finances will make it almost impossible.

Arizona Coyotes

So, a team that has less financial restraints is likely to be the one that lands DeBrusk. It would really help the Bruins make a deal if they can free up the entire $3.625 million that DeBrusk earns against the cap.

So, who can take that cap hit on?

Well, the Arizona Coyotes not only can, but they might need to take money on at some point this season. They sold… pretty much everybody last offseason and need to rebuild their entire organization. One of the realities of the salary cap is teams must spend a minimum of $60.2 million.

The Coyotes are on pace to be well above that, but they could still trade Phil Kessel this season and could be enticed to move out players like Shayne Gostisbehere and Antoine Roussel if someone calls looking for them. But they won’t be able to move them all out without taking some money on.

So, why not take on DeBrusk who is 25 years old and has 25 goal potential for the next few years? He would surely get a big opportunity in Arizona and could be a player that earns a long term extension if he plays well for the rest of this season.

The Coyotes would have to give him the aforementioned qualifying offer of just under $5 million, but they only have six players signed through next season so they have more than enough flexibility. They also have five second round picks in the 2022 NHL Draft and could part with one to acquire a potential top six winger of the future.

Detroit Red Wings

The Detroit Red Wings have been better this season than expected. Whether that will last or not is yet to be determined, but their franchise is starting to turn a corner after some really lean years.

The Wings are getting tremendous production from their top line of Dylan Larkin, Tyler Bertuzzi and Lucas Raymond but they are pretty thin beyond the top line. They picked up a player of a similar age a couple years ago when Robby Fabbri found himself in a similar situation as DeBrusk is now and it worked out well for the Wings.

Why not try again by buying low on DeBrusk?

If it works out, DeBrusk helps the Red Wings hang around the playoff race longer than they have in years. They could also use more depth forwards next season with Vladislav Namestnikov and Sam Gagner being UFAs at season’s end.

The Wings have tons of cap space to bring in DeBrusk and plenty of money coming off the books to fit him in next season as well. Being a division rival, the Bruins are not going to give a young winger away for nothing.

The Red Wings have two second round picks in the upcoming draft, adding the Washington Capitals second rounder in the Anthony Mantha trade last season. They could dangle that pick, which promises to be a late second, and entice the bruins by taking on the whole cap hit.

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