On eve of return, Jake DeBrusk admits leaving Bruins hurt

BOSTON — As the 2023-24 season wore on, Jake DeBrusk never let himself believe that he and the Bruins wouldn’t eventually come to a contract agreement.

The 28-year-old forward couldn’t or at least didn’t want to picture that he’d be moving on from the only team he’d ever been a professional hockey player for. So he held out hope as the year progressed.

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When Boston lost to Florida in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, it hit him that the Bruins were unlikely to move off their initial contract offer.

“I didn’t want to believe it really,” he said. “Probably when we lost. When it was over, I knew it was over. I wasn’t sure, but I didn’t think they’d do anything different really and they didn’t.”

He signed a seven-year contract worth $5.5 million with the Canucks and headed west.

“It was closing a chapter of your life,” he said. “This is an exciting second chapter of my career here in Vancouver. I feel like I made the right decision for myself and for my future.”

DeBrusk will make his first trip back to TD Garden when Boston hosts Vancouver on Tuesday night.

“Packing for this one gets you excited. It’s definitely weird being back. I was here for a long time,” he said. “It was like a second home for me in some ways. It’s nice to be back in this area.”

The Canucks, who played in Ottawa on Saturday have been in Boston since Sunday. DeBrusk said he went to dinner with a couple of former teammates on Sunday night and expected to do the same on Monday night.

“Just doing the rounds. Catching up with guys I played with my whole adult life,” he said. “Nice to have some laughs and get a good dinner.”

Fellow ex-Bruins Danton Heinen and Derek Forbort followed him to Vancouver. Forbort is injured and won’t play Tuesday, but Heinen will be playing his second return game in Boston.

Heinen played the first four seasons of his professional career with the Bruins before being traded to Anaheim. He returned for the 2023-24 season. He played well enough to earn himself a two-year deal in Vancouver, his hometown.

Playing in Boston as a visitor won’t feel as foreign this time.

“I’ve done it before. So I think it’ll be a little less weird this time,” he said. “I enjoyed my time here and all the good friends over there and it’s a big game and we’re excited for it. ... It’s easy to get up for, for them, playing your old team.”

Heinen said he and the Bruins talked about returning but were never close to a deal.

“There was a little bit but just kind of never ended up coming together,” Heinen said. It is what it is. I’m happy here too.”

DeBrusk has a history of scoring goals in bunches and after scoring twice against former teammate Linus Ullmark on Saturday, he was hoping to stay hot against a whole group of his friends on Tuesday.

“I hope so. I’m not going to lie to you,” said DeBrusk, who expected to hear some chirping from his old pals. “There’s probably a couple guys that I’ll take some punishment from for all the different times I was so annoying. It’ll be funny to hear a couple guys chirp me. They’re doing anything they can to win and so are we.”

Charlie Coyle was looking forward to facing him.

“He was such a character here,” Coyle said. “He just got along with everyone here. Such a nice kid and so funny. ... I’m sure some guys will have something to say to him. We have the inside scoop since he was her for so many years.”

Brandon Carlo has spent his entire career with the Bruins and most of that came with DeBrusk as a teammate.

“I loved having him here in the locker room. He was a guy I came into the league with. He’s definitely a good friend of mine,” Carlo said. “There’s a lot of love there. It’ll be interesting to see him in a different uniform, but we’re all competitors, hopefully we can put a couple of bodies on him.”