Is Jake DeBrusk’s Production Dependent On His Linemates?
The 27-year-old forward logged nine points in eight games while skating on the second line with Brad Marchand and Charlie Coyle.
Is Jake DeBrusk’s Production Dependent On His Linemates?Jake DeBrusk seemed to get his scoring touch back.
From Dec. 27 to Jan. 9, the 27-year-old winger logged nine points in eight games while skating on the second line with Brad Marchand and Charlie Coyle. Within that stretch, DeBrusk had five goals in seven games.
“I think he’s been doing a lot of it. He’s been hanging onto pucks more now since we went on the road, or I guess since Christmas,” Boston Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said.
However, especially with the Bruins, lines don’t stay the same for long. Montgomery moved Marchand and Coyle up to the first line to play with David Pastrnak in Monday’s 3-0 win over the New Jersey Devils. DeBrusk remained on the second line, this time with Danton Heinen and Pavel Zacha.
During Wednesday’s practice, James van Riemsdyk slotted onto the left wing on the second line while Heinen moved down to the third.
“But these last two games, [DeBrusk] has had his most puck possession time and I really liked the line of him Zacha and ‘Heino.’ I thought they were really dominant territorially last game,” Montgomery said.
“Now here I am switching lines again because I want to get more balance on the fourth line, and ‘JVR’ has been playing really well.”
The consistency and chemistry DeBrusk built with Marchand and Coyle needs to be transferable no matter where in the lineup he’s playing. DeBrusk has now gone three games without a point now, and while he’s benefitting the team in other aspects of the game – power play, defensive effort, high ice time – the scoring must resume in the second half of the season.
DeBrusk, who has a total 20 points (nine goals, 11 assists) in 42 games, is in the final season of his two-year, $8 million contract and will be a free agent for the first time in his career at the conclusion of the 2023-24 campaign.
After hitting a career-high 50 points last year (27 goals, 23 assists), DeBrusk has the remainder of this season to prove why he deserves to stay in Boston – and his production can’t depend on who he is on a line with.
Players like van Riemsdyk, Morgan Geekie and Trent Frederic have been able to make an impact no matter where Montgomery puts them in the lineup. It’s not to say that DeBrusk has been impactless, but the Bruins need their top-six winger to score.
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