I still dont get why you think a QO is the only player value. you dont have to give the player a QO to sign him to a deal. Heinens QO was too high for his production in anaheim. they chose to simply let him walk. just because there is a QO attached doesnt mean you have to send it to make an offer. IIRC Heinen was not a highly sought after free agent either, dont believe he was a "day 1 free agent signing" for pittsburgh.

Bruins did the same thing with nick ritchie, his QO would have been like 2m he got more than what his QO would have given him. It all depends on situation and market. Everyone on here is acting like debrusk is a playing like a bag of dog ****. kids got 4 less goals than patrick kane. on a 3rd line where he has played with a bunch of crap. no PP time. his assists arent there like most guys in the league when it comes to depth playing but bostons depth isnt scoring except debrusk. craig smith has 6 goals playing with bergy and marchy for most of the year, debrusk has 9 playing with haula, coyle, frederic, lazar, foligno, steen, etc. now bruins are going to do the worst thing for his value and stick him on his off wing with bergy and marchy and tank his value even lower because he simply cannot play the off wing effectively.

If debrusk went to the team of his choosing and started to succeed in a better role there, i 100% believe he would take a 1 year prove it with them to stay in that same situation. Familiarity is better for his long term career earnings. once the bruins brought in hall and signed him long term. debrusk should have been traded for a right shot winger.

not for nothing but hes producing the same as hoglander and podkolzin with much worse around him. lastly why would the bruins who are trying to compete for the playoffs... do this 1 for 1 for a much lesser player? dickinson is a defensive bottom line player. the trade doesnt make sense. the fact you think dickinson has the same or somehow more value than debrusk is mindblowing. put debrusk on a team where hes getting 2nd line left wing minutes and maybe some pp time and the kids going to be a 40+ point player again.