One player the Vancouver Canucks should regret acquiring this past offseason

After the Canucks parted ways with Daniel Sprong, it was difficult to pinpoint whether there was anyone else general manager Patrik Allvin may have brought in who may have been a miss. And the answer was a resounding ‘yes.’ 

Okay, maybe not resounding, as when you look at some basic numbers, this new face looks like they’re playing well for the Canucks. And, in truth, they are. Jake DeBrusk has scored a goal in three of the previous four games heading into Tuesday’s slate, three straight, to be exact, and he looks well on pace to achieve a career-high in points. 

DeBrusk is a good top-six player who isn’t afraid to land body checks and provide an intimidation factor for opponents. So on the surface, the Canucks shouldn’t regret bringing him in, right? 

In foresight, I was a fan of seeing DeBrusk head over to British Columbia, but following what has so far been a 13-game sample size, I’m liking him as a fit for this hockey team less and less. Even his advanced numbers show that he’s been great, or at least a few of them do, considering his 13.8 on-ice shooting percentage and plus-50 in the Corsi For, both at even strength. 

Signing Jake DeBrusk will haunt the Vancouver Canucks at some point

In many cases, when I talk about why teams should have regretted signing a player, it’s because they’ve been an absolute bust for their new team. That’s not the case with DeBrusk, but instead, there is one number scaring me here; that being his meager 86.1 on-ice save percentage and the fact he’s already seen 11 goals allowed in just 13 games. Okay, so I guess those are two numbers.

The math here is an ugly one, with between 69 and 70 goals allowed while on the ice at even strength. So why should this number lead me to say the Canucks should regret signing this guy since it’s just two measly metrics, right?

Here’s my concern: Vancouver has its scorers, and that was the case before DeBrusk came to town. While they’re on pace to finish with between 264 and 265 goals this season, they’re also on pace to give up even more. 

And yes, I know, they don’t have their regular goaltender right now, I get it. But we also have no idea how good Thatcher Demko will look once he’s back in action. If I were Patrik Allvin, I would have instead rolled more with another defensive forward as opposed to a player who, while he’s displayed good defense in the past, also played for a team loaded with defensive-minded talent. 

This is one of those situations when I like the player, but I’m not sold that he’ll help the Canucks go any further than they did last season, and he could ultimately end up as a liability. Being a fan of Jake DeBrusk, I hope I’m wrong, but this signing, when you dig deep, doesn’t look so hot.