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Canucks: 11 years later, how does Jake DeBrusk stack up to the rest of the 2015 draft class?
Photo credit: © Bob Frid-Imagn Images
By Tyson Cole
Aug 27, 2026, 13:00 EDTUpdated: Aug 26, 2026, 21:15 EDT
It’s been 11 years since the now-infamous 2015 NHL Draft class took place, and many of the best players in the National Hockey League today came from this class. Twenty of the 30 first-round picks have already played over 500 NHL games, with many on track to reach 1,000 in the next few seasons.
Last offseason, we covered how Vancouver Canucks‘ Brock Boeser stacks up against this very class, but this time, we’ll focus on another 2015 prospect who is now on the Canucks, Jake DeBrusk.
A stacked class
We already touched on how stacked a class this was, highlighted by generational talent Connor McDavid. There are a handful of other players who fall into the elite category from this class, including Jack Eichel, Mitch Marner, Zach Werenski, Mikko Rantanen, Sebastian Aho, and Kirill Kaprizov. Other impactful NHLers from this class include Dylan Strome, Noah Hanifin, Pavel Zacha, Ivan Provorov, Timo Meier, Lawson Crouse, Mathew Barzal, Kyle Connor, Thomas Chabot, Joel Eriksson Ek, Brock Boeser, Travis Konecny, Roope Hintz, Rasmus Andersson, Jonas Siegenthaler, Anthony Cirelli, Conor Garland, Troy Terry, and Vladislav Gavrikov.
Players drafted around DeBrusk
DeBrusk will forever be remembered as the lone success story for the Boston Bruins in the 2015 NHL Draft. After trades with the Los Angeles Kings and Calgary Flames, that saw the Bruins trade Milan Lucic to the Kings and Dougie Hamilton to the Flames, Boston held three consecutive picks in the draft: 13th, 14th and 15th overall.
First of the three picks, the Bruins selected the Czech defenceman, Jakub Zboril. Zboril wouldn’t make his NHL debut until the 2018-19 season, and was out of the league by 2022-23. He played just 76 NHL games, scoring one goal and 16 points. He currently plays for Vitkovice HC of the Czech league.
DeBrusk was drafted at 14th overall, with the Bruins’ own selection. DeBrusk played seven years in Boston, scoring 138 goals and 266 points in 465 games. Looking for an opportunity to play higher in a lineup, DeBrusk signed with the Canucks in free agency in the summer of 2024.
The last pick of the trio is the least successful at the professional level. The Bruins selected right winger Zach Senyshyn at 15th overall, and it’s safe to say they would like to have a do-over. Although he made a fantastic first impression, scoring in his first NHL game in 2019, that would be Senyshyn’s only goal at this level. He played just 16 NHL games over five years before heading overseas, where he currently plays for the Zilina Wolves in the Slovak league.
While DeBrusk is the standout of the three Bruins draft choices, he lacks in comparison to the three names selected after: Mat Barzal, Kyle Connor, and Thomas Chabot.
Barzal has a Calder Trophy in his Trophy room, along with 178 more points in 17 fewer games. Connor has multiple eight-30-goal seasons and a pair of 40-goal seasons, along with an Olympic Gold Medal, and as a defenceman, Chabot has 21 fewer points than DeBrusk in 59 fewer contests. Not to take anything away from DeBrusk, but the three players selected after the Bruins’ three consecutive selections have more impressive resumes to this point in their careers.
How DeBrusk stacks up
- With 628 games, DeBrusk ranks 17th in the class. He trails only Hanifin, McDavid, Provorov, Aho, Marner, Konecny, Rantanen, Anthony Beauvillier, Zacha, Meier, Connor, Brandon Carlo, Eichel, Crouse, Werenski, and is one shy of current teammate Boeser.
- With 356 points, DeBrusk ranks 16th in points in the class. He trails only McDavid, Marner, Rantanen, Aho, Eichel, Connor, Konecny, Barzal, Boeser, Meier, Kaprizov, Werenski, Strome, Hintz, and Zacha.
- With 189 goals, DeBrusk ranks 12th in goals in the class. He trails only McDavid, Connor, Rantanen, Aho, Eichel, Marner, Meier, Kaprizov, Boeser, Konecny, and Hintz.
Conclusion
Outside of the three players immediately selected after him, there were only a few players selected after him in the first round who have had better NHL careers than he has. He still stacks up fairly well as a complementary player and a top-end goal scorer among his class.
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