Player Discussion Jake DeBrusk II

[patty59]

Jake DeBrusk can't be the centerpiece of a line but he can play anywhere from 2nd to 4th line and have a valid role. On a higher line he's the off wing grinder, like a more skilled version of PJ Axelsson. If you have more talent in the top line he can become a third line scorer or provide a ton of energy from either of the bottom 2 lines.

He's valuable. He's just not a core guy or a franchise centerpiece.

The guy will have multiple 30 goal seasons in this league. He probably won't be on the top line on this team because our top LWer is a 100 point scorer.

 

[BruinsFanSince94]

Jake DeBrusk can't be the centerpiece of a line but he can play anywhere from 2nd to 4th line and have a valid role. On a higher line he's the off wing grinder, like a more skilled version of PJ Axelsson. If you have more talent in the top line he can become a third line scorer or provide a ton of energy from either of the bottom 2 lines.

He's valuable. He's just not a core guy or a franchise centerpiece.

So much wrong with this opinion on DeBrusk. For one, he's a Top 6 LWer, hands down. If he's on your 3rd line, you're stacked. This kid scored 27 goals in 68 games played. He scored 27 goals this season, despite going 11 games without a goal. How can you say a potential 30+ goal scorer can play anywhere from 2nd to 4th line? He's a 2nd liner.... That's it. Maybe a first line type IF he can find more consistency in his production. He is nothing like PJ Axelsson.

He's a young core player for the reasons above. No one is deeming him as a guy who is a "franchise centerpiece". He's a winger...Very few wingers in this league are.

 

[ON3M4N]

Anyone else feel like DeBrusk lost a lot of that "swagger" to his game after the Kadri incident? To me it just seemed like from that moment forward he wasn't as noticeable. He still managed to put up some point, but he just didn't seem like a guy who we've seen in the past. Not really taking over games, but usually making things happen each shift.

 

[Over the volcano]

Anyone else feel like DeBrusk lost a lot of that "swagger" to his game after the Kadri incident? To me it just seemed like from that moment forward he wasn't as noticeable. He still managed to put up some point, but he just didn't seem like a guy who we've seen in the past. Not really taking over games, but usually making things happen each shift.

Yes - but it’s hard to tell because he’s always been streaky.

 

[ON3M4N]

Yes - but it’s hard to tell because he’s always been streaky.

He is, but even when he's not scoring he's still causing problems on the forecheck. He didn't do much of that post Kadri stuff. It seemed like he was gripping the stick a bit tight at time as well. He seem to have pucks blow-up on him or he struggled handling them. All-around he just looked off.

 

[Trap Jesus]

I see this as very similar to Lucic in 2011. He came into this playoffs as already having a decent playoff reputation from what he did vs. Toronto last year, but when the Bruins went on a run this year, he had flashes and some big moments and didn't look bad per se, but just not enough out of him, especially considering we were expecting him to elevate. Lucic was kind of the same in the sense that he performed well in the playoffs before 2011 even if the Bruins didn't, but didn't contribute much to their Cup run. He came back in 2013 very well though.

 

[Smitty93]

Anyone else feel like DeBrusk lost a lot of that "swagger" to his game after the Kadri incident? To me it just seemed like from that moment forward he wasn't as noticeable. He still managed to put up some point, but he just didn't seem like a guy who we've seen in the past. Not really taking over games, but usually making things happen each shift.

I was just coming in to say this. He was never the same after the Kadri hit. He had moments, but he seemed to generally be fighting it.

 

[roflstomper]

Debrusk's stick- where plays go to die. Really needs to work on his overall awareness and passing. He skates hard all over but usually isn't in the right place, especially defensively. Krejci wants to cycle and set up some tic tac toe plays and play with possession while Debrusk gets puck it's "skate directly to net do not pass go, do not collect 200, shoot/drive."

 

[RussellmaniaKW]

Debrusk gets a bit longer leash from me than Heinen does because when he's on he scores lots of goals, but man is this guy ever streaky. week to week you never know which Jake you're gonna get & the Bruins arguably win the cup this year if Jake had been on a hot streak instead of a cold streak. it doesn't help that he's paired with Krejci who has his own consistency issues, but I saw more out of Krejci than Debrusk on most nights.

For the right deal (ie an established offensive forward) I'd move Jake even if his character seems 2nd to none. It's just hard to contend every year with a key guy on your 2nd line being such a wild card.

 

[member 96824]

Down second year. It happens to the best of ‘em.

I think Jake is a monster next year personally

 

[lextune]

Too bad DeBrusk couldn't play in the playoffs this year, we really could have used him.

 

[RiverbottomChuck]

He seemed to get really angry during some playoff games, probably a hot head like his pops. Maybe that hinders his performance and like Pasta does better when he is happy and having fun versus angry and thinking about taking a piece of someone or getting your head ripped off over the flow of the game. He will learn and fix it, probably one of the last guys I'm worried about.

 

[Clint Eastwood]

I love Jake, but you have to be a special breed of moron to play through this.

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

From today's NY Post:

"What to make of the Bruins’ Jake DeBrusk, all but certainly concussed in Round 1 against Toronto on Nazem Kadri’s suspension-earning crosscheck to the face, telling reporters he had “battled through” the first-round injury he did not name?

I am not at the accusatory part of the program, but it is hardly comforting or courageous that DeBrusk, who was sidelined for three weeks in December with a concussion, would have tried to tough it out while playing through symptoms. Equally disturbing is the possibility the Bruins’ hierarchy would have countenanced the decision had they been aware of the situation.



What did coach Bruce Cassidy, general manager Don Sweeney and president Cam Neely know, and when did they know it? Or, perhaps the question should be: Why didn’t Boston management know when it most certainly should have? What is the protocol practiced by NHL teams and does it change because it’s the playoffs?
There is shared responsibility here. These aren’t the old days when players might not have been aware of the ramifications of playing through a brain injury. Everyone knows the danger. DeBrusk is as responsible as any of them who operate with misplaced bravado in this warrior culture that is celebrated in a disproportionate, and thus dangerous, manner.
So, we’ve got a tag-team of headhunters in Washington, don’t we, in the aftermath of the acquisition of Radko Gudas to line up behind Tom Wilson? Hope the Capitals are ready for all of the “tsk, tsks,” that will be coming their way by the Department of Player Safety.
Mystery solved. It is now clear Don Draper was envisioning the 2019 Cup parade through St. Louis, not a silly soft drink jingle, when he broke into that smile at the top of that mountain.
Finally, couldn’t quite see, but was Brad Marchand blowing kisses to the crowd on his way to the bench on that disastrous line change at the end of the first period of Game 7?" L. Brooks

 

[neelynugs]

i'm not gonna pretend to know what debrusk played through, but it's possible he wasn't experiencing
post-concussion syndrome when he played - that it was just the after-affects of having a concussion.
takes a while to get back to peak performance, getting your timing back and all that. i'd imagine it's
more likely than he played through a concussion, but that's just me.

 

[Dr Hook]

From today's NY Post:

"What to make of the Bruins’ Jake DeBrusk, all but certainly concussed in Round 1 against Toronto on Nazem Kadri’s suspension-earning crosscheck to the face, telling reporters he had “battled through” the first-round injury he did not name?

I am not at the accusatory part of the program, but it is hardly comforting or courageous that DeBrusk, who was sidelined for three weeks in December with a concussion, would have tried to tough it out while playing through symptoms. Equally disturbing is the possibility the Bruins’ hierarchy would have countenanced the decision had they been aware of the situation.

What did coach Bruce Cassidy, general manager Don Sweeney and president Cam Neely know, and when did they know it? Or, perhaps the question should be: Why didn’t Boston management know when it most certainly should have? What is the protocol practiced by NHL teams and does it change because it’s the playoffs?
There is shared responsibility here. These aren’t the old days when players might not have been aware of the ramifications of playing through a brain injury. Everyone knows the danger. DeBrusk is as responsible as any of them who operate with misplaced bravado in this warrior culture that is celebrated in a disproportionate, and thus dangerous, manner.

I can't really disagree with any of this. It all stinks a like the NHL in general when it comes to head injuries. I wonder if the league is merely paying lip service to the idea of preventing/treating/managing head injuries to cover their asses while the lawsuits are pending. My premise is this (and it is all speculative but I think reasonable where there are snake lawyers like Bettman involved and slimy owners): to actually do anything meaningful such as crack down on hits to the head in a meaningful realistic way is to tacitly admit there is an issue and thus give ammunition to the several ongoing suits. So, they say the PC thing and do just enough to appear like they care, but at the same time can also say that there aren't really any issues league-wide with this.

As far as JDB goes, I wouldn't doubt he played through a concussion and even more wouldn't doubt that he didn't disclose how he really felt. If he met his baselines for "recovery" then a doctor is not going to know if the player lies or minimizes any issues. I also know that at high competitive levels even in junior sports that players are "coached" to score poorly on their baselines so as to minimize downtime in the case of concussion. It sucks, but I witnessed it firsthand more than once and got stonewalled when I tried to make an issue of it.

 

[PB37]

I've been re-watching some of the regular season + playoff games over the past couple of weeks and one player who I think should change his style for his own good is DeBrusk.

Love the kids heart, hustle, grit, and scoring prowess ( would have had 30+ if not for injury ). Both he and Pasta are 22 and 23 respectively and figure into the Bruins long-term plans as 2 of our top 6 wingers and featured goal scorer of their lines.

DeBrusk has got to find a way to either stay on his feet or be more mindful of where the boards are - the kid has never met a board he doesn't want to slide or crash into and it's going to shorten what could be a very productive career. I've re-watched roughly 12-14 games and I started to count the number of times Jake crashed into the boards on non going for a hit/pure hustle and grit plays. I stopped at 20.

I don't know if it's a core/lower body issue where he's just simply not strong enough or if he's just trying way too hard and doesn't want to stop skating, but he's got to correct this. I can see DeBrusk being an important part to the future team leadership core as either wearing the A or C by the time he's 30 and I want to see him healthy for it.

 

[Tbaybruin]

Boy would I love it if don signed him to a 6 year 4.5 per tonight

 

[BruinsFanSince94]

I was saying WTF to both the DeBrusk pick and the Senyshyn pick, and so was almost everybody else for that matter. And time has proven everyone right.

It has? DeBrusk is a legitimate Top 6 LW coming off a 27 goal season.....

I'm not going down that road this is the Senyshyn thread.

Bawhahahahahaha

So you can run around here bitching and whining about the 2015 draft AND CONTINUALLY BRING UP HOW ALL THREE PICKS but once called out you pull the "this is a Senyshyn thread" card? GTFO with that nonsense.

Soo......

Let's continue on DeBrusk here. How has time proven to be right when has developed into a Top 6 LW with even more room to grow? 27 goals in his 2nd full season..... That's with some struggles.

 

[JOKER 192]

It has? DeBrusk is a legitimate Top 6 LW coming off a 27 goal season.....



Bawhahahahahaha

So you can run around here *****ing and whining about the 2015 draft AND CONTINUALLY BRING UP HOW ALL THREE PICKS but once called out you pull the "this is a Senyshyn thread" card? GTFO with that nonsense.

Soo......

Let's continue on DeBrusk here. How has time proven to be right when has developed into a Top 6 LW with even more room to grow? 27 goals in his 2nd full season..... That's with some struggles.

Continually? I brought it up once. DeBrusk is fine, Connor is better, so is Barzal.

 

[BruinsFanSince94]

Continually? I brought it up once. DeBrusk is fine, Connor is better, so is Barzal.

DeBrusk is a legit NHLer. He's better than "fine". I don't care who went after him. They took him and he developed into what he was projected to develop into (and still developing). You can do what you're doing for every f***ing draft.

 

[Dr Hook]

Look at every player taken before Brayden Point in 2014, especially 2nd rounders, and many in the first, and how many more were taken before Danton Heinen a round later, and just marvel at the suckage. I mean, honestly, how the hell did the Bruins (and 29 other teams) miss Point?? And 29 teams also picked guys who are not ever (or barely) going to play in the NHL before Heinen? It's mind boggling. Every single draft this can be done, that's right. DeBrusk and Carlo were great 2015 picks. Zboril has not amounted to much, nor has Senyshyn, so far. They may never pan out. But I get it that fans of teams expect their clubs to hit a home run with every pick and anything less and it's time to sack the whole crew.

 

[ODAAT]

I love Jake, but you have to be a special breed of moron to play through this.

In this day and age with all we know about concussions, what the he** is the medical staff doing allowing him to "play through it"? Gone are/should be the days where players were told to shake the cobwebs off and get back out there.

 

[Clint Eastwood]

Look at every player taken before Brayden Point in 2014, especially 2nd rounders, and many in the first, and how many more were taken before Danton Heinen a round later, and just marvel at the suckage. I mean, honestly, how the hell did the Bruins (and 29 other teams) miss Point?? And 29 teams also picked guys who are not ever (or barely) going to play in the NHL before Heinen? It's mind boggling. Every single draft this can be done, that's right. DeBrusk and Carlo were great 2015 picks. Zboril has not amounted to much, nor has Senyshyn, so far. They may never pan out. But I get it that fans of teams expect their clubs to hit a home run with every pick and anything less and it's time to sack the whole crew.

I will die on the 2015 draft was a good one hill.

 

[The Murph]

Anyone else feel like DeBrusk lost a lot of that "swagger" to his game after the Kadri incident? To me it just seemed like from that moment forward he wasn't as noticeable. He still managed to put up some point, but he just didn't seem like a guy who we've seen in the past. Not really taking over games, but usually making things happen each shift.

Completely 100% after the Kadri incident he lost his game and never really got it back. His forechecking was unreal and even tho he didn't have it every game, he never went that long without being such a hard player to place against along the boards. It seemed that game messed with him and hope he regains what made him so hard to play against.