Jake DeBrusk will be a healthy scratch for the Bruins' game in Los Angeles against the Kings Saturday night after being late to a team meeting, coach Jim Montgomery told the media Saturday afternoon.
It is obviously a disappointing development for the 3-0-0 Bruins, and especially for DeBrusk. The 27-year-old winger has been healthy-scratched before, and it was after a second one early in the 2021-22 season that he and his agent decided to go public with a trade request.
Those days appeared to be well behind DeBrusk, though, as he eventually rescinded his trade request after a strong finish to that season and then followed it up with a career year last season, one that saw him put up 50 points in 64 games while also greatly improving his defensive play and emerging as a key penalty-killer.
DeBrusk has yet to register a goal or assist through three games this season, but he's been getting chances (third on the team in shots on goal and 5-on-5 scoring chances) and has been a key part of a penalty kill that's a perfect 13-for-13.
The hope will be that this is just a one-time lapse in judgment from DeBrusk and not any sort of sign of things to come. DeBrusk is in the final year of his contract, and while both signs have indicated that there's interest in an extension, you have to wonder how something like this might affect those negotiations.
In DeBrusk's absence, Milan Lucic is expected to move up to the top line in his place, while Patrick Brown will enter the lineup on the fourth line and make his Bruins regular-season debut.
Here's how the Bruins are expected to line up Saturday night, according to The Athletic's Fluto Shinzawa, in what could be their toughest test of the season so far:
Milan Lucic - Pavel Zacha - David Pastrnak
Brad Marchand - Matt Poitras - Morgan Geekie
James van Riemsdyk - Charlie Coyle - Trent Frederic
Jakub Lauko - Johnny Beecher - Patrick Brown
Matt Grzelcyk - Charlie McAvoy
Hampus Lindholm - Brandon Carlo
Derek Forbort - Kevin Shattenkirk
Jeremy Swayman
Linus Ullmark
