Jake DeBrusk is a second-generation NHL player, following the same path as his father, Louie, who played 401 games for the Edmonton Oilers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Phoenix Coyotes and Chicago Blackhawks.
But while Louie was an enforcer, piling up 1,161 penalty minutes while generating 41 points (24 goals, 17 assists), Jake is a left wing who can score, and after he had 81 points (42 goals, 39 assists) in 72 games for Swift Current of the Western Hockey League, the Boston Bruins selected him with the second of their three consecutive first-round picks (No. 14) in the 2015 NHL Draft.
Jake DeBrusk is a second-generation NHL player, following the same path as his father, Louie, who played 401 games for the Edmonton Oilers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Phoenix Coyotes and Chicago Blackhawks.
But while Louie was an enforcer, piling up 1,161 penalty minutes while generating 41 points (24 goals, 17 assists), Jake is a left wing who can score, and after he had 81 points (42 goals, 39 assists) in 72 games for Swift Current of the Western Hockey League, the Boston Bruins selected him with the second of their three consecutive first-round picks (No. 14) in the 2015 NHL Draft.
The Bruins signed DeBrusk to a three-year, entry-level contract on Nov. 12, 2015, and after one more season in the WHL, he turned pro and was assigned to Providence of the American Hockey League, where he had 49 points (19 goals, 30 assists) in 74 games.
DeBrusk earned a spot on the Bruins out of training camp in 2017 and wasted no time scoring his first NHL goal, beating Pekka Rinne of the Nashville Predators in his debut on Oct. 5, 2017, with Louie in the stands. By midseason, he was a regular on the Bruins' second line and finished his rookie season with 43 points (16 goals, 27 assists) in 70 games.
DeBrusk would up his scoring total to 27 goals in his second season in 2018-19, and he added four more (11 points) in 24 playoff games to help Boston advance to the Stanley Cup Final, where it lost to the St. Louis Blues in seven games.
