Should The Edmonton Oilers Pursue Jake DeBrusk?

27-year-old forward Jake DeBrusk of the Boston Bruins will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2023/2024 season. When speaking with reporters, he had this to say about next week’s Trade Deadline…

“It’s in the back of everybody’s mind obviously because nobody is really safe. It’s one of those times where it’s always intense and stressful, and as a fan it’s exciting and stressful as well. It’s just kind of how it goes. I’ve gone through some pretty interesting ones to be honest. I feel like I’ve been around here long enough to know how the league works in that sense of things. Obviously, there’s different things – guys get injured around the league and different stuff that kind of happens that is out of normal control. So, it’ll be interesting to see what teams are aggressive, what teams aren’t.”
Jake DeBrusk

He has 27 points through 59 games this season and 253 points through 444 games in his career. He’s the son of former NHL enforcer and current Oilers play-by-play commentator Louie DeBrusk. He plays as tough as his father, with 403 hits through 7 seasons, but he is also a pretty skilled player despite the drop-off he’s had in production. His most productive season came last year with 50 points through 64 games.

I first heard talks and rumors of the Oilers being interested in acquiring DeBrusk back in the 2021/2022 season. He reportedly requested a trade back then, but there he is, still in Boston right now. Being an Edmonton native, he’s always had brief moments of being tied to the Oilers ever since. It seems pretty destined at this point. Perhaps this season being a contract year encourages him to move on even more. He’d be good for the second or third line, maybe top line if it’s enough to shift Ryan Nugent-Hopkins into the 3C role. I do like this player, but I’ve always wondered if there’d be too much media bias with his father covering the games and how that would impact the idea of him re-signing if anyone sees that as a big deal.

If it’s not an issue, I would welcome him to Oil Country with open arms. The plus side is that the Oilers may not or should not have to overpay for him in a trade. Of course, they could also just sign him as a UFA in the offseason if he doesn’t come to Edmonton next week.

Would you want Jake DeBrusk? Would you not? Let me know.

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