Following the Boston Bruins elimination in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Jake DeBrusk said he wanted to stay with the team that drafted him 14th overall in the 2015 Entry Draft. For the first time in his career, the Edmonton native was going to hit free agency and despite him saying he wanted to stay, all signs were pointing toward him hitting free agency and leaving.

Once free agency began at noon, it didn’t take long for the left wing to find a new home when he agreed to a seven-year contract with the Vancouver Canucks that carries an AAV of $5.5 million. The deal also includes a three-year no-movement clause and then a 15-year modified list for the remainder of the deal.

Jake DeBrusk deal proves he was never returning to Boston

Despite what DeBrusk said back in May, he was never coming back to Boston. Was it his call or the Bruins? That’s something we’ll never likely find out, but with just a $5.5 million AVV, that’s a deal that GM Don Sweeney could have done if he wanted. I expected DeBrusk to get at least a $6 million or more (say $6.5 million), but $5.5 million to keep him in the Black and Gold was doable.

Boston has added Elias Lindholm at center and Nikita Zadorov on defense for a combined $12.75 million and yes, I know, Jeremy Swayman needs a new contract in the $8 million range, but there were definitely ways that Sweeney could have made the money work with a trade or two. Now the Bruins are left looking to fill a void of a player who is knocking on the door of being a 30-goal scorer a year and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him kick the tires on a 40-goal season at some point.

You know what you have with DeBrusk, now you’re left filling a goal-scoring void that is bigger now without him. When he’s playing well, he’s a difference-maker and the Canucks and their fans will find that out quickly. This is a big loss for Boston, but it proves that he knew following the playoff elimination that he wasn’t returning to wear the Spoked-B next season or beyond