Jake DeBrusk Trade: The Canucks Are Selling and the Leafs Should Pass

The Jake DeBrusk trade market is open. Toronto should stay out.

The Vancouver Canucks are selling, and a Jake DeBrusk trade is the headline item. The Fourth Period reported on Oct. 28 that general manager Ryan Johnson is willing to move four veterans, DeBrusk, Drew O'Connor, Filip Chytil and former Maple Leaf Luke Schenn, while trying to add younger, NHL-proven players. Sportsnet's Chris Johnston has written that DeBrusk does not fit Vancouver's rebuild timeline.

The Leafs play in Vancouver on Saturday, Oct. 31, with Kirill Marchenko week-to-week and John Tavares still out, so the connection will be made on every panel and podcast this weekend. Our position is simple: John Chayka should take a pass on DeBrusk, ignore Chytil, and look somewhere else for the defenceman this team actually needs. If he wants anything from Vancouver, Schenn on an expiring deal is the only piece that makes sense, and only as a depth move.

Who the Canucks are shopping

Vancouver is 3-11-1 and last in the NHL after a 3-2 loss in San Jose on Oct. 29. The team lost 10 straight before winning 6-5 in overtime in Anaheim on Oct. 27. A sell-off was always the next step. Here is what each of the four reported names brings, based on reported contract details:

DeBrusk is the most attractive name and the most complicated. He signed a seven-year, $38.5 million contract on July 1, 2024, so this is year three of seven. He would have to approve any trade this season. Elliotte Friedman has said DeBrusk is unlikely to formally request a trade, though The Fourth Period reported he is open to a change of scenery.

Why DeBrusk is the wrong fit for the Leafs

Start with the obvious: DeBrusk is a winger, and Toronto's problem is not on the wing. Chayka has said publicly that the trade talk he has had has centred on a defenceman. We laid out that need in our piece on Chayka's trade plans. The Leafs have scored when healthy. They have struggled to defend the rush and to keep pucks out of their own net, and Sergei Bobrovsky's start has only made that more visible.

Then look at the money. DeBrusk's $5.5 million runs for four more seasons after this one. Marchenko's six-year, $12.5 million extension starts in 2027-28. William Nylander is signed through 2032 at $11.5 million, and Auston Matthews' deal ends in 2028. Gavin McKenna and Easton Cowan are on entry-level deals that will expire in the next three summers and require big raises. Adding a long-term wing contract now takes away room that will be needed later. Check our contracts page for the full picture.

Finally, the age curve. DeBrusk turned 30 on Oct. 17, 2026. He has been a reliable scorer through most of his career, with three seasons of 27 or more goals, but the back half of his contract covers his age-31 to age-34 seasons. That is the part of a winger's career where teams usually regret paying for goals.

The injury argument does not hold up

The best case for DeBrusk is short-term. Marchenko is week-to-week, Tavares is week-to-week, and Dakota Joshua and Max Domi are on long-term injured reserve. Toronto's forward depth is thin right now.

But "right now" is the key phrase. Marchenko and Tavares will return, likely within weeks. When they do, Hiller will have Matthews, Nylander, Marchenko, McKenna, Cowan, Tavares, Nick Paul, Jack Roslovic and a deep bottom six fighting for spots. A trade made for a three-week injury problem would leave Toronto with an extra $5.5 million winger through 2030-31 for a problem that solved itself. We covered how the team has handled the injuries in what the Leafs lose with Marchenko out.

The assets matter too. Vancouver wants young, NHL-proven players. On Toronto's roster, that description fits Cowan first. Chayka has praised Cowan's start and reports have suggested he and Ben Danford are not expected to be in a deal. Trading Cowan for a 30-year-old winger on a long contract would be exactly the wrong way round for a team trying to build around McKenna's timeline. We made the case in why Chayka was right to take Cowan off the table.

Chytil and O'Connor: no thanks

Chytil is a skilled centre, and centre depth is the position where Toronto is most exposed while Tavares is out. The problem is his health history. The Fourth Period's report mentions a run of severe, recurring head injuries and upper-body ailments. A $4.4 million cap hit for a player that fragile is not a fix for a contender.

O'Connor is a pending UFA with a 12-team modified no-trade clause and, per that same report, had three points and a minus-12 rating through 14 games, the worst plus-minus on the team. He did score against San Jose on Oct. 29. He is a depth forward on a bad team, and the Leafs already have depth forwards.

Luke Schenn: the only Canuck worth a call

If Chayka wants anything from Vancouver, it is Schenn. The 36-year-old right-shot defenceman, drafted fifth overall by Toronto in 2008 and back for a short stint in 2023, signed a one-year, $2.25 million deal with the Canucks on July 1, 2026. The Fourth Period reported he has a full no-move clause but would be open to joining a contender.

He is not the answer to Toronto's top-four question. He has been in and out of the lineup and his role has shrunk over the past two seasons. But he is an expiring contract, he blocks shots and kills penalties, and the Leafs have spent October short on bodies on defence, with Nick Blankenburg and Marshall Rifai on injured reserve and Tanev only now nearing a return. Schenn's cap hit would fit into the roughly $7 million of space shown on our early-October cap sheet. Think of him as a cheaper version of the depth move we argued for in our Ian Cole piece: a mid-round pick at most, and only if the medical reports on Tanev and the others turn worse.

What Chayka should do instead

The real target is still a top-four defenceman who can move the puck and defend the rush. Vancouver's best defenceman, Filip Hronek, is not on the market: the Canucks have described him as part of their leadership core, and his contract carries a full no-move clause. That leaves the bigger market, the one where Detroit's Simon Edvinsson has been the most discussed name. We covered that in our Edvinsson trade analysis.

Vancouver's sell-off is real, and some team will get a useful forward cheaply. It should not be Toronto. The Leafs need a defenceman, they need to protect the young core, and they need to keep their cap room for the bills coming in 2027 and 2028. Saying no to DeBrusk is the disciplined move. Chayka has been bold so far. On this one, he should be patient.