Bruins
DeBrusk had 11 points in the postseason, and set up Boston’s only goal on Friday night.
Jake DeBrusk had an up-and-down year in the 2023-24 regular season, but he came alive in the playoffs when the Bruins needed him most.
DeBrusk paced Boston in the playoffs with a team-leading 11 points (five goals, six assists). Despite losing in the second round on Friday night, the 27-year-old perfectly set up the Bruins’ only goal of the elimination game, feeding Pavel Zacha with a long backhanded pass to spring a breakaway.
It was a welcome surprise to see DeBrusk wield such a hot stick in the postseason considering he went extremely cold offensively for a long stretch at the end of the regular season.
As it turns out, there was an underlying reason for DeBrusk’s slump beyond a simply explained scoring draught that happens from time to time.
“It was a rough regular season, I was dealing with some injuries. Broke my hand,” DeBrusk told reporters Friday night. “Didn’t really heal probably till a week out of playoffs. So I knew my playoffs were going to be better. I could shoot the puck, use my bottom hand.
“The medical staff did a great job making sure I was ready to play and all that stuff, but there were some things that were going on this year, which makes it frustrating not being able to do that, and just feeling limited to be honest. I tried to play through it, thought that I could help the team out in different ways. … But, I knew that I was going to have a good playoff, I had confidence in that.”
Another aspect of DeBrusk’s tumultuous season came from the uncertainty of his future in Boston. The forward’s name came up frequently around the trade deadline, and while he wasn’t shipped elsewhere mid-season, he doesn’t have a new contract with the Bruins, either.
DeBrusk will be an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career this offseason, and did not answer a question about his future with the organization on Friday night.
DeBrusk entered the league in 2017 and has spent all seven of his NHL seasons with Boston.
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