To say Jake DeBrusk’s first season in Vancouver was a whirlwind is probably an understatement.

He was joining a team that was coming off a strong season, looking like they were going places. Sure, they probably weren’t going to repeat as division winners, but they’d played hard in 2023-24, they played a fun two-way system, they had a couple of star centres, a superstar defenceman, a player-friendly coach and of course there’s Vancouver itself, a great place to live.

DeBrusk was signed to help improve the team that had pushed the Edmonton Oilers, eventual Stanley Cup finalists, to the brink. And on the ice, he delivered, scoring 28 goals, a career high.

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But very little else went to plan. The Canucks didn’t stumble out of the gat

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