Oh my, how much I dislike this rumour is tough to explain, but we’ll talk about it nonetheless.
Jake DeBrusk
Position: Left Wing
Shoots: Left
Height: 6’0″
Weight: 188lbs
First we’ll cover all of the things that Jake DeBrusk does really well.
- Plays fantastic against the Leafs in the playoffs
Aside from that, we’ll give him a passing grade on a few other aspects of his game. DeBrusk is a passable penalty killer. He’s been a regular on Boston’s 2nd PK unit and could definitely help the Leafs in that aspect. That may be more of an indictment on the Leafs PK, rather than sending praise DeBrusk’s way. He’s a solid contributor in puck battles along the wall and in the corners as well, while he isn’t bothered about spending time in front of the opposition’s net. While he isn’t a powerhouse offensively, he’s good for around 25 goals and 40pts a season, which is solid production for a middle 6 winger. It’s also said that he’s a great teammate and leader in the locker room, which is something the Leafs are clearly lacking.
On the flip side, he really does shift up to an extra gear when he plays against the Leafs. A career 40-50pt player, DeBrusk scored 5 goals and 11pts in 11 games against the Buds this year. Compared to his yearly numbers his Hits/60, BLK/60 and P/GP all increase against the Leafs. He’s a very noticeable presence in scrums and his Penalties Drawn/60 over triple against Toronto. What DeBrusk actually does on the ice is provide depth scoring and average two-way play, but what he does against the Leafs is score at will, draw penalties regularly by getting under their skin and make Leafs fans believe that he could do the same thing for them.
Obviously the very beginning of this was a little tongue in cheek, but I can promise you the rest is very serious.
@AFPAnalytics is projecting DeBrusk’s next contract at 5 years, with a caphit of about $5.8M. If DeBrusk were to walk into Brad Treliving’s office with the news that he’d sign for that term, but is willing to cut $2M a year off the average because he so very badly wants to play for the Leafs then it would make sense to me to sign him. As we well know, that isn’t about to happen. What could happen with $5.8M is the addition of a top 4 defender such as Matt Roy, who @AFPAnalytics is also predicting signs a 5 year, $5.8M contract. Sean Walker, Nikita Zadorov and Chris Tanev are also estimated to be coming in under that number, while Brett Pesce is just 400K above. In short, signing DeBrusk limits the Leafs’ ability to add quality defenders during a time when they have a real opportunity to add a couple of players that can solidify their defense. For that reason alone the “mutual interest” between the Leafs and DeBrusk should only be one sided and that’s Jake “Clarkson” DeBrusk’s side of things.