The Montreal Canadiens are circling back on Vancouver Canucks winger Jake DeBrusk, and the interest is not new.
Jimmy Murphy reported this week that an NHL source confirmed the pursuit to him on The Sick Podcast.
And this is not some cold trade rumor getting recycled for clicks.
Kent Hughes has apparently checked in on DeBrusk more than once already.
He looked into it when DeBrusk hit unrestricted free agency, then again at the trade deadline.
DeBrusk can play either wing, and he put up 23 goals and 42 points in 81 games this season.
But it came with a -31 rating, hardly a shock on a Vancouver team that couldn't hold a lead.
Vancouver's last-place season adds pressure to move DeBrusk
Vancouver finished 25-49-8, a season that piles real pressure on the front office to sell whatever value is left.
DeBrusk's cap hit sits at $5.5 million, a number that stays manageable if the salary cap keeps rising the way it's projected to.
That's not nothing for a team still building around its young core. But it's far from an anchor contract either.
Montreal already has the tape on him, too. The Canadiens beat Vancouver twice this season, winning 4-3 on the road in October and 6-3 at home in January.
"According to an NHL source, the Montreal Canadiens have expressed interest in Vancouver Canucks winger Jake DeBrusk, and this isn't the first time," Murphy said.
"They looked into signing him when he was an unrestricted free agent, then again at the last trade deadline."
This one makes sense to me. Montreal keeps hunting for secondary scoring, and DeBrusk fills that gap without wrecking the cap sheet.
He also brings something the Canadiens' prospects mostly lack right now: real playoff mileage on a losing roster that still needed to compete every night.
Will a rebuilding club actually let go of a 23-goal scorer for cheap? That's the part nobody can answer yet.
Hughes has scouted this option twice already and come away interested both times. That much is confirmed.
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For now, nothing is finalized. Hughes has shown his hand, but Vancouver still controls the price and the timeline on this one.
Should the Canadiens actually give up assets for a -31 winger like Jake DeBrusk?
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