Bruins notebook: Jake DeBrusk ready to go

Jake DeBrusk declared at the start of training camp that he was “clean-slatin’ it” this year. Whatever happened in the past didn’t matter. And throughout the preseason, it appeared to be an approach that worked, as he settled in on a new line with center Erik Haula and left wing Nick Foligno and looked a lot more like the promising young NHLer he was once considered by a large swath of the Bruin fan base, as oppose to the object of ire for the “trade-him-for-a-bag-of-pucks” crowd that got increasingly vociferous last year.

Now the real test begins with the start of the B’s regular season on Saturday against Dallas. DeBrusk looks and sounds ready and eager for it.

“I’m feeling good and I feel like I did what I wanted, technically, in preseason to get ready for the season. I’m feeling confident and excited to play,” said DeBrusk on Thursday. “It’s kind of weird having a 10-day stretch in between games. But I’m getting excited with hockey back on, I’m watching some games and getting ready for the Garden.”

DeBrusk should be in a very good position to have a productive season. For much of his young career, he had been the second line left wing with David Krejci behind Brad Marchand. Now he’s on the third line behind both Marchand and Taylor Hall. Undoubtedly, he and his linemates will see more favorable matchups with third defensive pairings.

But there are even more advantageous aspects of his current situation, said DeBrusk.

“It’s a good opportunity in a sense because pretty much my whole career, I’ve been in that top six, behind an all-time caliber player in Marchie, and now behind him and Hallsy. Two elite players and something I’m taking more notice of now. I’m 24 and been in the league, this is my fifth season, and to learn off those guys…everyone in this room has heard about Marchie, but Hallsy is a different player in his own right,” said DeBrusk. “I’m trying to take things that they do well and also try and understand why they’ve been so successful for so long, whether it’s habits or stuff on the ice, how to attack, and pick their brain about it. I think that’s something you always have to be doing, always trying to find ways to get better.

“Matchup-wise, I’m not looking too far into that. I hope we’re a reliable line. That’s our number one goal for us three. We want to be good defensively obviously, but I think we can do some damage, too. We’re kind of getting a little underrated here. It’s nice.”

It will be interesting to see how this third line meshes. The unit has three left sticks, and DeBrusk said there’s room to grow in the chemistry department. But it already seems like the two new veterans have started to pick up on DeBrusk’s persona of everyone’s little brother, at least by the way DeBrusk jokingly describes some of the line’s dynamic.

“I like to ask questions,” said DeBrusk. “The biggest thing from Day One is (Foligno) wanted to talk a lot, so we’ve been talking a lot. He’s probably getting sick of me. Same with Erik. Erik’s kind of turning on me a little bit. He’s making alliances already. It’ll be interesting to see how it goes.”

The B’s are now in a position to keep DeBrusk on his natural left side. That was not the case last year, when under-performance led to him being shifted to the right side and eventually off the Krejci line. But he didn’t want to chalk up his problems last year — a season that saw him produce 5-9-14 totals in 41 games — to playing his off wing.

“I think it was a lot of things just kind of added up and that’s why the results were what they were,” said DeBrusk. “You look back at things like and try and figure it out in the summer. I did, and it’s a fresh start. But I’m back on the left side, back where I’m comfortable and it seems that things have gone well. Obviously preseason’s done. We’re looking at Game One here, but I’m really excited to get going, no matter where I play on this team.”

Much of the discussion of DeBrusk’s struggles last year has centered around him dealing with the tight Covid restrictions, the mental challenges of which were only exacerbated by him being single and thus even more isolated. He seems to be thoroughly enjoying some of newly regained freedoms like simply hanging out with teammates, watching football.

“I’m not going to lie to you, I missed getting chirped as much as I am again,” said DeBrusk.

Through his struggles, and examination of why they happened, he’s also regained an appreciation of the game itself.

“You work your whole life to play in this league and I’m very grateful for the opportunity to do it,” said DeBrusk. “There’s a lot of little learning experiences that make you tick. It really makes you grateful when things are going well.”

This and that

Count Bruce Cassidy as a fan of the new national broadcasts on ESPN and TNT.

“I like Charles Barkley. I think he’s entertaining no matter what he’s talking about,” said the B’s coach. “But to have those old hockey minds (Wayne Gretzky, Rick Tocchet on TNT; Mark Messier, Chris Chelios on ESPN), and I grew up idolizing those guys, and some I played with, so it’s kind of neat just hearing them telling stories on hockey. Because not every fan wants to hear everyone’s role on a neutral zone forecheck. So you can break the game down and have analysts who are good at that, and other times it’s good just to have guys who were really outstanding hockey players just talking hockey and maybe telling a few stories.”…

Cassidy held off announcing his starting goaltender till Friday. If you have a pot of gold, we suggest you bet on it being Jeremy Swayman.