Rewind to a year ago on this date, Dec. 14, 2021, and Jake DeBrusk's tenure in Boston appeared to be in its final stages.
The Bruins winger's trade request went public in late November of that year, and he was struggling to score goals and produce offense of any kind at a consistent rate. His relationship with then-head coach Bruce Cassidy didn't seem to be going well. DeBrusk was a healthy scratch at times and Cassidy was not afraid to talk candidly in press conferences about the young forward's performance.
But something changed in late March.
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DeBrusk all of a sudden started scoring, playing with more tenacity in all three zones and becoming a more consistent player overall. Cassidy moving DeBrusk to the first-line right wing spot next to Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand was a brilliant move and jump-started the 26-year-old's impressive turnaround.
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DeBrusk scored 10 goals over the final 18 games of the 2021-22 regular season, giving him 25 in 75 games overall -- the second-highest single-season total of his career.
It was reported about a month after Cassidy was fired on June 6 that DeBrusk had rescinded his trade request and was happy to remain a Bruin.
The team has benefited mightily from his decision, as DeBrusk has carried that late-season success from 2021-22 into the current campaign. He scored twice (19 seconds apart) and earned an assist in the Bruins' 4-3 shootout win over the New York Islanders on Tuesday night at TD Garden. He also scored in the shootout.
The three-point night increased DeBrusk's scoring total to 23 points (11 goals, 12 assists) in 27 games, which ranks second on the team behind David Pastrnak's 39 points in 28 games.
He also scored the game-winner in last Sunday's road win over the Western Conference-leading Vegas Golden Knights.
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"When he has the puck, he has the ability to put defensemen on their heels," Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery said of DeBrusk after Tuesday's victory. "I thought he was attacking defensemen, like that play, that rush in overtime, wow. I thought he was ending it. I thought that was going to be the hat trick goal."
If you look back at the start of DeBrusk's turnaround on March 26, only Pastrnak has scored more goals for the Bruins during that span.
Aside from the points, the most encouraging aspect of DeBrusk's play this season has been his consistency. He has been prone to going long stretches without finding the back of the net. However, he has tallied at least one point in 17 of his 27 games played in 2022-23. He also has not gone more than two games without a point since Oct. 25.
All of a sudden, DeBrusk's contract has become a great deal for the Bruins. A player of his caliber signed this year and next season at a very reasonable $4 million salary cap hit is quite valuable for a Boston roster with a miniscule $51,514 in cap space as of this writing, per CapFriendly.
DeBrusk is playing with all kinds of confidence in Montgomery's more aggressive, up-tempo style of hockey. Not only is DeBrusk scoring goals, he's giving a strong effort defensively. That includes 1:40 of shorthanded ice time per game for the league's No. 1 ranked penalty kill.
The Bruins have seen a dramatic improvement in their scoring depth this season, and DeBrusk's consistent production is a major reason for that uptick.