A months-long pause might not have been enough to shutter the 2019-20 season, but for Jake DeBrusk — the NHL's "Return to Play" (RTP) campaign might as well be a clean slate at this point.
Sure, the stakes now are certainly higher than anything experienced from October 2019 to early March. But after spending most of the spring holed up back home in Edmonton, it's only natural DeBrusk spent some of his club's sabbatical reflecting on a campaign still not fully seen through — a line of thinking usually reserved for the offseason.
That time away from the rink — and the regular grind of NHL hockey — was largely viewed as a detriment leading up to the league's RTP initiative, with only injured players such as Vladimir Tarasenko, Jake Guentzel and Adam Pelech truly benefiting from such an extended stoppage.
But DeBrusk, often the optimist, tried to make the most of the league's unprecedented stoppage.
The primary takeaways from his quarantined musings? An acceptance of a regular-season campaign often marred with inconsistency — and a commitment toward not letting said struggles carry through to this revamped postseason.
"I didn't really necessarily love the way I was kind of heading into this pause," DeBrusk said back in July. "I'm my biggest critic and I'm hard on myself so I obviously understand what I can bring ... We watched video and stuff throughout the year, but seeing it pretty consistently in different kind of games, good ones and bad ones. I mean, it's more so a mental state for me. ... When I am consistent, it's kind of my mindset going into certain things no matter what's going on around me and, and limiting distractions as well. It was kind of good for me to take a step back and look and understand what I can bring to this team understand the person that I am and just kind of roll with it. I mean, just bring my J.D. vibes and just kind of play my game. I think that's the best way I can help this team.
Entering Phase 4 with a clear head should do DeBrusk some good, with the third-year winger ready to enter a pivotal playoff run — one that could hinge on the 23-year-old's ability to consistently bury chances down low.
He may not have plenty of time to showcase the lessons learned over this break – at least not with his usual playmaker in the middle.
Aside from the usual suspects up top in Patrice Bergeron, David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand, the Bruins have rarely been afforded the luxury of consistency as far as their forward corps is concerned — with second-line pivot David Krejci standing at the forefront given the lack of consistent wingers to his right.
It's no secret that Krejci's current situation is a far cry from the days in which he was regularly penciled in between the likes of Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton — with the veteran center logging at least 10 minutes of 5v5 ice time with 14 different line combinations so far in 2019-20. Granted, left wing has been much less of a question mark over the past few seasons for Krejci, with the duo of him and DeBrusk skating together for 1,781 minutes of 5v5 ice time since the 2017-18 season.
For most of that extensive stretch, it's usually been a rather seamless fit.
When DeBrusk is on his game, a top-heavy, but effective, Bruins lineup often becomes a juggernaut. Opposing defenses often already on the ropes while trading punches with the Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak trio often have no answer when David Krejci's grouping is also capitalizing, often against favorable matchups. Of course, a patient playmaker in Krejci can only do so much in the offensive zone — with the B's second line often hampered by a lack of finish down low.
A locked-in DeBrusk often solves those scoring woes in short order.
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Even though DeBrusk is deadly in open ice, the Bruins winger is often at his best when operating in Grade-A ice — converting quality looks by way of a tipped shot, potted rebound or backdoor tap in. Of DeBrusk's 19 goals scored this season, 12 of them have come off of shots from within 15 feet of the net — a testament to his ability to convert on whatever high-danger chances are generated in and around the crease.
(A look at DeBrusk's shot map from the 2019-20 season so far. Just three of DeBrusk's 19 tallies came from beyond 30 feet of the net, with the low slot/crease clearly inundated with a majority of his goals. DeBrusk's tendency to shoot from in close has also generated 12 rebounds, while 13 of his own shots have come off rebound chances).
Because of his willingness to bring the puck down low, DeBrusk is often among the leaders on the Bruins when it comes to generating hi-danger scoring chances during 5v5 play — an area that Boston has been lacking in for most of the season, especially away from the Bergeron line. Among Bruins forwards that have logged at least 300 minutes of 5v5 TOI, DeBrusk is first in rush attempts per 60 minutes (0.79) and tied with Charlie Coyle for second overall on the club with a high-danger scoring chances generated per 60 minutes rate of 3.66.
(Even though DeBrusk has been a mixed bag at times as the netfront option on the power play, this sequence — a goal from just six feet out of the net — if DeBrusk at his best, positioned down low and ready to pot him any pucks that fall his way. The extra effort is often there when DeBrusk finds himself in these Grade-A spots. He just needs to get down and be engaged in those areas on a more regular basis.)
All these underlying numbers paint the picture of a winger who should regularly be knocking home 30+ high-danger looks a season. But, in what has often been a recurring issue during DeBrusk's young career, these positive results can sometimes be few and far between.
This season, in particular, has seen the usual partnership between Krejci and DeBrusk hit a few road bumps, especially when it comes to tangible offensive production. After that duo generated a 2.68 5v5 goals per 60 minutes rate in 2018-19, that total dropped to just 2.1 goals / 60 this year — not exactly what you're looking for from your second line, especially one that's earning over 62% of their faceoffs in the offensive zone.
Despite the fresh start that the COVID-19 pause provided DeBrusk, both he and Krejci haven't exactly meshed through Boston's first two games of Phase 4 action up in Toronto. Sunday's loss in the round-robin opener against the Flyers was particularly underwhelming, with Boston only generating one scoring chance in the duo's 8:49 of 5v5 TOI together
On Wednesday, DeBrusk will find himself in a new spot, skating on the third line next to Coyle and Anders Bjork. Some of that switching involves adding Nick Ritchie back into the lineup and assessing where the power forward is of best use to this club. But, given the lackluster connection so far between Krejci and his usual left winger, Wednesday's lineup shuffle could very well be viewed as a wake-up call for the B's young winger.
"Who's on the left side? Jake and David have to develop chemistry and they have to start getting some results if we're going to keep them together," Bruce Cassidy said. "If not, then Charlie Coyle will play with Jake and someone else will move up — in this case Ritchie, or could be Bjork down the road if we think he's a better fit with Krech. So that's what we're trying to you know get done in a short period of time here. We don't want to you know overanalyze one particular game, but that's where we're at — so we have to do that to a certain extent and then watch and practice as well. So they've got to put the onus on themselves to get going as individuals and hopefully as a pair they'll recreate some of what they were able to do, if not them then we've got to look at other tandems or duos and then slot a guy in on the right side."
There's a lot at stake over the next few months for DeBrusk — who is in line for a solid payday as a restricted free agent this upcoming offseason. That fiscal incentive, coupled with his ability to generate high-danger looks in the offensive zone, make him a natural pick when it comes to identifying breakout candidates this summer on a Bruins team still relying heavily on its tried-and-true veterans.
But to realize such a scenario, the B's plucky forward is going to have to start etching his name on the scoresheet — and fast.
"I think Jake has got all kinds of skill. He certainly has got the skating that you want in today's game," Cam Neely said. "It's just the consistency piece that I think Jake needs to work on. I think if he could find that, a little bit more consistency in his game, then he could be one of those players that certainly can break games open for you and help you win hockey games like he's shown in the past.
"I think everybody certainly would love to be known as a playoff player. And Jake has had some great moments in the playoffs. But I think these particular playoffs will be a good test for Jake — to show everybody where he's at and show himself where he's at. I certainly hope that Jake looks at this as a great opportunity for him, because he can make such an impact in the game with the way he can play."
OTHER NOTES:
Here are the lines that Boston rolled out on Tuesday afternoon during practice:
Marchand – Bergeron – Pastrnak
Ritchie – Krejci – Kuhlman/Kase
Bjork – Coyle – DeBrusk
Nordstrom – Kuraly/Lindholm – Wagner
Chara – McAvoy
Krug – Carlo
Grzelcyk – Lauzon
Moore – Clifton
Rask
Halak
- Cassidy noted that Tuukka Rask will indeed start Wednesday's round-robin matchup against the Lightning, while Ritchie will also make his Phase 4 debut next to Krejci. With Ritchie's addition to the lineup and DeBrusk's demotion to the third line, Jack Studnicka will likely be the odd man out against the Bolts. A tough break for Studnicka, given that he's been one of the more encouraging pieces up front for Boston over the last week — but Cassidy and his staff need to start figuring out where pieces like Ritchie and (eventually) Ondrej Kase best fit in this lineup once playoff games begin in earnest.
- Here's a look at Tuesday's practice, with video courtesy of the Bruins: