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Scoring more even strength goals is a necessity for Jake DeBrusk in 2026-27

Photo credit: © Bob Frid-Imagn Images

By Lachlan Irvine

Aug 8, 2026, 16:00 EDTUpdated: Aug 7, 2026, 20:47 EDT

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Jake DeBrusk’s 2025-26 season wasn’t ugly, but it wasn’t a Picasso either.

On first glance, DeBrusk’s stat line last year doesn’t look all that out of place from any of his other eight NHL seasons. He cracked the 40-point threshold again, potted 23 goals and finished fourth in team scoring. Compared to a lot of his teammates, those numbers don’t seem too bad. He even added some rare Pokémon cards to his collection for good measure.

But those metrics are deceiving in a few ways. One of the biggest storylines of last season was DeBrusk’s inability to score at even strength; just four of his goals came at 5v5, while the other 19 all came on the man advantage. Glass half full proponents would call him a power play specialist (the next highest PPG getter was Brock Boeser with six). But that’s not what you want from a top six winger who needs to eat a lot of even strength minutes. DeBrusk averaged a career-high 16:52 minutes a night under Adam Foote last year, and will probably hit a similar number under Manny Malhotra.

DeBrusk’s reliability in his own end left a lot to be desired last season; his scoring chance against metrics all ballooned to career-worsts, dragging his expected goals for and scoring chance percentages down with it.

Stats courtesy of Natural Stat Trick. The numbers highlighted in yellow denote a career low.

DeBrusk signed a seven-year deal with the Canucks in 2024, off the heels of the Vancouver Canucks‘ Pacific Division title. He didn’t sign up to be part of a long-term rebuild, and it’s no secret he’d welcome a change of scenery if the opportunity were there. But until that time comes, he’ll have to play well enough for another team to take on the final 4.5 years of his deal. But the path forward is as simple as they come. Tidy up his defensive metrics and improve his scoring, and the world is DeBrusk’s oyster.

Meeting expectations: Hit double digits in even strength goals, improve his defensive numbers

DeBrusk’s primary goal has to be improving his even-strength numbers. Scoring on the power play is well and good, but without the 5v5 contributions to back it up, it’ll make it harder to justify his first-line minutes next to Elias Pettersson. Before last year, DeBrusk’s lowest even-strength goal total was 12 with the Bruins in 2019-20, so asking him to chip at least another six at increased shifts shouldn’t be too tall an order.

And while playing on a scoring line doesn’t make good defensive metrics as big a priority, it’s clear that the Canucks gave up too many scoring chances when DeBrusk was on the ice last year. Bringing his expected goals against back down to earth and keeping High-Danger Scoring Chances under 200 (less than 2.4 per game) would be a step in the right direction.

Exceeding expectations: Lead Canucks in goal scoring (as long as he’s here)

In both his seasons in Vancouver, DeBrusk has led the Canucks in goals. He’s the pace car for the rest of the team to keep up with, and if he hopes to entice a Cup contender to trade for him, DeBrusk needs to help raise the bar higher.

DeBrusk will get a whole lot of opportunities to showcase himself on a Canucks team that’s bound to be just as starved for offence as last season. His skills on the power play alone should provide a strong foundation, and finding more open space at 5v5, as he did in 2024-25 (or during his time in Boston), will be key for him. And thanks to the rising salary cap, if he can punch above the struggles of the team around him, playoff teams will look at DeBrusk’s suddenly team-friendly $5.5 million as a bargain worth paying for.

Below expectations: A repeat of last season

DeBrusk was far from the only Canuck who struggled last season – heck, he wasn’t even remotely one of their biggest issues. But it was a down year, and there are only so many places in the lineup to put a scorer who’s a liability at the defensive end of the ice. If other left wingers like Drew O’Connor or Liam Öhgren start to outpace him and play better defensive hockey on top of it, DeBrusk is going to find himself losing shifts.

But DeBrusk had a good attitude despite last season’s struggles and is consistently honest about his own play. We fully expect DeBrusk will come into training camp ready to prove last season was a blip on the radar. He doesn’t need to set the world on fire; he just needs to tighten things up defensively and get back to what has made him a consistent 25+ goal scorer in the past.

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