With the trade deadline just two weeks away, General Manager Don Sweeney has some decisions to make. This article discusses the two players whose names are surfacing every time the trade comes up. Those players are Jake DeBrusk and David Krejci.
Jake DeBrusk
The latest thing in the rumor mill for the Boston Bruins is DeBrusk. The 24-year-old linesman career of where he will play next season is a question mark. One fear is that he will blossom as a great scorer once traded somewhere else—absolutely a fair worry after seeing Dallas Stars‘ Tyler Seguin stats soar after being traded. Dougie Hamilton even improved as a defenseman after getting out from the shadow of Zdeno Chara.
But to who? For what? Seattle maybe? Currently, Jake has only played in 21 games with three goals and four assists, giving him seven points. But he’s out right now due to the NHL Covid protocol. DeBrusk could come back from that and improve his performance immensely. If he does, then maybe the Bruins won’t trade him and renew his contract for 2022, the actual year he becomes an RFA. Their next choice is Krejci.
David Krejci
Krejci, a 34-year-old veteran, has been with the Bruins since the beginning of his career 15 years ago in the 2006-07 season. Unless severely hurt, Krejci plays every game. He has been through several linemates, the Krejci line is constantly changing, and he always gets all the new players.
Recently, NESN has been advertising a special that they will be airing on Sunday about the 2011 Boston Bruins because this year will mark ten years since the Bruins won the Stanley Cup. The advertisement mentioned that there are still five players on the current roster from that team, and one of them is Krejci. In fact, in two seasons, 2008-09 and 2016-17, Krejci played all 82 games. He is a dedicated player and has stepped up his game this year. Out of 25 games (not including today’s game), he’s had one goal and 16 assists.
Other Possibilities
Looking at www.spotrac.com website with the Bruins players contract and pay. Ondrej Kase is a restricted free agent this season (2021). With a salary of 2,600,000 and has only played two games this year and six last year. Kevan Miller is always hurt. He’s like Rob Gronkowski was for the New England Patriots. Good player; he can’t stay healthy. Without Miller, it would free up $1,250,000. So with just those two players, if these numbers are correct, it frees up $3,850,000.
All the Bruins players have their good points versus bad and have fit in the Bruins organization one way or another. Hopefully, both Krejci and DeBrusk will stay on the team, which doesn’t come up again for another couple of years. Others are still to come in RFA and UFA, so the next couple of years will be interesting to see. It will be interesting to see the Seattle Draft. Who knows which players will become a member of a brand new team. And I mean from all the NHL teams, not just the Boston Bruins. We find out July 21st when the expansion draft occurs, which is shortly after the playoff finals.
