Jake DeBrusk on leaving Bruins for Canucks: Among the plethora of Bruins-related stories to emerge from the first day of NHL free agency was the news that forward Jake DeBrusk was signing with the Vancouver Canucks on a seven-year deal with an average annual value of $5.5 million.
DeBrusk, 27, was originally drafted by the Bruins in 2015 and had spent his entire NHL career in Boston. After the Monday announcement, he spoke to Vancouver media about the signing.
“It’s been a crazy process, obviously, free agency and going through it for the first time,” said DeBrusk. “But in saying that, in terms of obviously being in Vancouver, they were very aggressive. I knew I had a really good feeling about them. We were talking and things of that nature and things were looking like they were going to hopefully go in the right direction.
“It’s funny, I woke up pretty early today and felt like a pretty normal day and then as soon as I kind of got the confirmation that I was coming here, I’ve been overwhelmed throughout the whole day. It’s been really exciting and it’s something I just can’t wait to get to the city and I can’t wait to get started. I feel very lucky and honored to become a Vancouver Canuck.”
Asked about the “tension” between the Canucks and Bruins (harkening back to the two teams’ 2011 Stanley Cup Final matchup) and how his Boston friends reacted to signing with Vancouver, DeBrusk said he got a warm response.
“[My phone] has been blowing up, but they’re actually happy for me, at least for the Boston side of guys,” DeBrusk explained. “I have lots of good friends over there and guys I’ve played with for a long time that understood something like this was probably going to happen, but they’re just really excited for me.”
“In terms of the rivalry,” he continued, “obviously playing with [Brad Marchand] and [Patrice Bergeron] for the first couple of years…there’s a little bit of that, especially with the fans, especially with [Marchand]. I mean that’s always pretty obvious, but I [arrived] after that. I remember watching it, but I was not a part of that team. It was always interesting seeing how people reacted around [Marchand], which I totally understand.”
