The trade winds continue to blow around the NHL, and just as we hoped: the Blue Jackets are right in the middle of things. This afternoon, Dave Pagnotta of the Fourth Period put up a rumor blurb on the Vancouver Canucks.
One of the names he brings up is winger Jake Debrusk, who has made clear that he does not want to be a part of a rebuild in Vancouver. Of note, he mentions the Blue Jackets as one of a handful of teams who have checked in on the goal scorer.
This is exactly the kind of player I can see Don Waddell and his staff targeting via trade. He fits the bill for what the Jackets have tried to do over the last couple of seasons: add age-appropriate players who have term left on their contracts.
In fact, that's what they did with these same Canucks at the trade deadline, when they acquired Conor Garland for a couple of draft picks. It's not hard to see the parallels here and wonder if this kind of deal can happen between these two sides again. These trades make sense for the CBJ.
Of course, it's worth noting that the Canucks are under new management since that Garland trade took place. But, they are in very much the same place they were with the previous management: needing to tear it down and rebuild. Trading this player away could make a lot of sense for them.
Jake DeBrusk would give the Blue Jackets more of a scoring punch.
While not a legitimate top line player, Jake DeBrusk would be an upgrade to the second line for the Blue Jackets. This past season, he scored 23 goals and 42 points in 81 games for Vancouver, which is basically right on par with his career average.
He's well established as a 20 goal threat in this league, having cleared that mark in 5 of his 9 NHL seasons-while reaching 19 goals on two separate occasions. At 29 years old, he's a touch younger than Mason Marchment, and I wouldn't be surprised if the Jackets are checking in on him as a potential replacement.
Like Marchment, DeBrusk is a responsible two-way player who brings a variety of different traits along with some secondary scoring. But, those traits are pretty different from the ones Mush brought to the team last year.
DeBrusk is more of a burner up and down the wing, using his speed to separate himself from defenders. He also has a better shot, though that goal scoring potential is offset by Marchment's willingness to get to the greasy areas.
In their counting stats, these guys are pretty similar players. This could be a sign that the Blue Jackets are exploring every option in front of them, before making a final decision on Mason Marchment.
Of course, they could make it easy and re-sign the guy they had last year. This would save them assets. But, I wouldn't be surprised to see them make this kind of move. DeBrusk has 5 years left at a very comfortable $5.5 million dollar AAV.
That could be attractive to a team that wants to build up some stability. We'll see where this goes.
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