Just like every season, there was a lot of eye on Boston Bruins forward Jake DeBrusk going into the 2023-24 season. He was entering the final year of his contract that carried an AAV of $750 million. There were more questions (again) about whether or not GM Don Sweeney was going to look to deal the 14th overall pick of the 2015 Entry Draft. As he did during previous trade deadlines, he held onto him. Now that the season is over, DeBrusk is the biggest free agent decision that Sweeney has ahead of July 1.
Does he re-sign him or risk losing him for nothing? Sweeney said last week that he would prefer to have DeBrusk return to the Black and Gold, but there may be opportunities he explores elsewhere. As we wait to see what happens with him, let’s take a look back at his season and give him a grade.
DeBrusk disclosed that he played the second half of the season with a broken left hand after the Florida Panthers defeated the Bruins in six games during the second round.
That would make perfect sense, given that he struggled at times for second-year head coach Jim Montgomery in all scenarios during the latter few months of the season. Given that he averaged less than 17 minutes a night and finished with just 19 goals and 21 assists—two of which came on the power play—a broken hand makes sense given the decline in his effectiveness.
Given his 13-game stretch against the Toronto Maple Leafs and Panthers, DeBrusk’s statement that he became healthy just before the playoffs began makes sense. They were without a doubt the two greatest and most reliable players in the postseason, along with Jeremy Swayman. With five goals and six helpers, DeBrusk led the Bruins and contributed the most shifts despite playing an average of a career-high eighteen minutes a game.
In Game 1 of the playoffs against the Maple Leafs, he scored two goals on the power play in the second period. In the game, he also finished with an assist on a goal by Brandon Carlo as the Bruins won 5-1. After his Stanley Cup run in 2019 and his first-round series against Florida in 2018, in which he finished with four goals and two assists in seven games, this postseason was arguably his greatest.
