Canucks beat out stiff competition to land DeBrusk
The Vancouver Canucks filled a huge need by adding Jake DeBrusk in free agency.
The nearly $40 million deal given to the winger was the largest made by the Canucks this summer and helps them fill a glaring hole in their depth chart. The 27-year-old gave an inside look at his free agency experience during a recent appearance on theĀ Cam & Strick Podcast.
“Vancouver reached out, and I knew that they were pretty much the frontrunners going into free agency,” said DeBrusk.
“I felt like it was Christmas,” he later continued about the morning of July 1. “At the same time, you never know if anything’s going to change. It’s a lot of unknown, so I’m happy it worked out that way.”
While the Canucks may have been an early frontrunner, they were far from the only team interested.
“There was a lot of offers,” explained the winger, who mentioned that the different deals varied widely in terms of years and average annual value.
“Honestly, I wanted to hear them all out. It was my first free agency, and they were good offers; some of them were getting kind of close to what I wanted. But in saying that, Vancouver hit everything on the head, so it was kind of hard to compete with that deal.”
“I was really feeling strong, my gut was telling me Vancouver.”
The Canucks gave DeBrusk seven years, the maximum allowable, and in return, likely got a slight discount on the salary cap hit, which comes in at just $5.5 million.
While the contract was definitely important, the money was far from the only reason why DeBrusk picked the Canucks. In fact, he outlined another one during his podcast appearance.
“I’m excited to hear that crowd go. That’s one of the main reasons why I joined up.”
Since being signed, DeBrusk mentioned that he’s talked with head coach Rick Tocchet, who welcomed him to the team and told him what to expect at training camp. Tocchet has a history with DeBrusk’s dad, Louie DeBrusk, as they played together on the Phoenix Coyotes at one point. Jake even mentioned that he’d seen a video of the two fighting when playing on opposing teams.
The Canucks training camp starts on September 19, when fans will get their first look at DeBrusk in the team’s uniform.
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