Jake DeBrusk doesn’t appear headed for a trade request, even as the Vancouver Canucks continue to stumble through a rough start.
That’s the read from Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman, who addressed DeBrusk’s situation on Thursday’s episode of 32 Thoughts with Kyle Bukauskas. Friedman said the winger is unlikely to ask out, despite the fact that he may not fit neatly into the Canucks’ timeline as the team works through a rebuild.
“I don’t think anyone here is being immature or rude or trying to throw darts at anyone to say it hasn’t worked out the way anyone has expected,” said Friedman. “It hasn’t worked out for DeBrusk, and it hasn’t worked out for the Canucks.
I just think DeBrusk, after what he went through in Boston, he doesn’t want to do that again. He wants to put on the best public face he can; he wants to help the Canucks the best way he can.”
DeBrusk’s history helps explain why this would be handled carefully. He previously put in a trade request while with the Boston Bruins, drew criticism for it, then stayed with Boston through the end of his time there before signing with Vancouver as a free agent in the 2024 off-season.
Friedman said DeBrusk’s experience in Boston still shapes how he approaches any possible change now.
“He went through a really hard situation in Boston where he asked out, and it’s the same thing that kind of Larkin went through this year,” he said. “A lot of these guys, when they ask for trades, they want it to stay private. Instead, they get really annoying people [...] who report this stuff, and they really turn their lives upside down.
“I think everybody understands that if there was another opportunity or there was somewhere for him to go, I think he would welcome it and I think the Canucks would do it,” Friedman continued. “But I think it’s really important for DeBrusk that this is handled in a certain way.
There was a rumour going around last year at the Olympics that he’d asked for a trade, and that wasn’t true. I just think that after what he went through in Boston where he asked for the trade, he’s like, ‘I don’t want to go through that again, and whatever happens here, I want it to happen properly and with nobody thinking that I’m bailing on the team’ - because these guys, they do worry about stuff like that.”
Through 12 games this season, DeBrusk has three goals and five assists. The Canucks, meanwhile, have won just three of their first 14 games to open the 2026-27 season.
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