Jake DeBrusk is drawing real trade interest this summer, with the Ottawa Senators among the teams believed to be in the mix, per two league sources cited by Postmedia's Bruce Garrioch.
The 29-year-old is two years into a seven-year, $38.5 million contract with the Vancouver Canucks, and this season did not go the way either side imagined when he signed it.
He finished with 23 goals and 19 assists in 81 games. On paper, that's a serviceable line. Until you look closer.
Nineteen of his 23 goals came on the power play. Four at even strength. For a forward carrying a $5.5 million cap hit, that's a number that gets circled fast in any front office evaluating a trade.
The even-strength production isn't the only thing raising questions. Vancouver went 25-49-8 this season, finishing dead last in the league. The Canucks allowed 316 goals, ranked 32nd overall, and gave DeBrusk essentially nothing to work with at five-on-five.
He also went minus-31 on the year. That number doesn't land entirely on him given the team around him, but it's not easy to market either.
Why Ottawa makes sense for a DeBrusk fresh start
The Senators finished 44-27-11 with 99 points, ranked 9th in the league. They scored 278 goals this season, and that's the kind of environment where a winger can actually breathe.
Ottawa's even-strength structure is a genuine upgrade from what DeBrusk dealt with in Vancouver. The Canucks scored just 216 goals all season. The gap between these two teams isn't a step up. It's a different planet.
The Senators went 2-0 against Vancouver this season, winning 2-1 on January 13th and 2-0 at Rogers Arena on March 9th. They've seen this Canucks team up close, and they know what they're looking at.
Here's the honest read on DeBrusk, though: his last 10 games of the season showed 7 goals and 8 points, with 6 of those goals coming on the man advantage. There's the pattern again. He's turned into a specialist, and Ottawa needs to be clear-eyed about what they're actually buying.
DeBrusk also holds a full no-move clause through next season, which means Vancouver can't force anything. He controls his own exit. If he wants out of a rebuild, he can push for a trade. If he doesn't, he stays.
Travis Green's bench in Ottawa is built around 99 points and a team trending in the right direction. Adding a power-play forward at $5.5 million is manageable. The bigger question is whether the Senators want to bet on the even-strength version of DeBrusk returning, because right now that player has been missing for two full years.
Four even-strength goals is less of a contract red flag and more of a neon sign. He's been leaning on the power play like a crutch, and a change of address doesn't automatically fix that. If Steve Staios pulls the trigger on this trade, he better know which DeBrusk he's getting.
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Should the Senators trade for Jake DeBrusk this summer?
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