So much has happened with the Bruins over the last two weeks that it’s easy to forget that head coach Bruce Cassidy had not yet addressed Jake DeBrusk’s trade request being made public.
That’s because on the same day that news broke, Cassidy tested positive for COVID-19 and immediately entered league protocols. He hadn’t been around the team -- or the media -- since, but Cassidy was finally able to return for Monday’s practice.
After practice, he was asked about DeBrusk’s trade request for the first time, and quoted Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin when discussing it.
“I think it was Mike Tomlin who said it a while ago, I heard a quote -- I don’t know if they were dealing with a player. He said, ‘It’s always better when you have volunteers as opposed to hostages.’ It’s just easier to run your room and your team,” Cassidy said. “We’re no different in that case.”
Tomlin has used some variation of that quote several times over the years to refer to players who were disgruntled or wanted to be traded, including running back Le’Veon Bell, wide receiver Antonio Brown, and -- most recently -- defensive end Melvin Ingram, whom the Steelers traded to the Kansas City Chiefs earlier this season.
Cassidy went on to explain that he believes both DeBrusk and the rest of the team have handled the situation well so far, and that he expects DeBrusk to continue to work hard until general manager Don Sweeney can find a trade that makes sense.
“Having said that, Jake’s come to work every day,” Cassidy said. “Talking to [assistant coach Joe Sacco], he’s ready to play and not be a distraction. Talked to the leaders in the room, and they’ve accepted it. It happens in sports.
“The ask of Jake when I talked to him was, help us win games. Help us win hockey games, be a good pro, and we’ll try to do what we can for you. That goes upstairs to Donny obviously, but we want to do what’s best for the team as well. I think we’re handling it well as a group. He’s trying to be as professional as possible in this situation. So that’s the ask of everybody. We’ll see how it plays out. That’ll be up to Donny to do what he has to do to improve our team. Only he can answer that timeline.”
DeBrusk has played all six games since his request was made public and has scored twice during that stretch.