SUNRISE, Fla. — For the past five days, Derick Brassard has rolled out of bed, thrown open the blinds and noticed the sun shining outside his hotel room window. But the beautiful weather isn’t solely responsible for how much better Brassard feels since the Feb. 1 trade that sent him to the Florida Panthers.
After Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford finally and mercifully pulled the plug on the February 2018 blockbuster that netted Brassard — the culmination of a meeting the two men actually had weeks ago — the 31-year-old center said he feels like a new man.
“I’m never going to say I didn’t enjoy my time in Pittsburgh, but the last couple days I’ve been waking up, having fun and smiling,” Brassard told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette after Florida’s 3-2 loss Tuesday to the St. Louis Blues at BB&T Center. “Like [Tuesday], I made some plays that I probably haven’t made in over a year. I just feel free. … I don’t know. It’s a weird feeling.”
While Brassard appreciated his time in Pittsburgh and had nothing but positive things to say about the entire Penguins organization, he wasn’t shy about one thing: It was definitely time for both sides to move on.
“I think we both kind of agreed it wasn’t a good fit,” Brassard said.
When the trade occurred, the thought was that Brassard would thrive in Pittsburgh, seizing on advantageous matchups to produce 50 or 60 points per season and perhaps form a dynamic partnership with Phil Kessel.
That never happened. Instead, Brassard had just 12 goals and 23 points in 54 regular-season games — a 35-point pace over a full season. He had one goal and four points in 12 playoff contests last spring and never clicked with Kessel.
Brassard realizes that the trade is largely viewed as a flop in Pittsburgh, probably one of the worst in recent memory, but he has a rather simple explanation for why things never worked out.
“I feel like a lot of people on the outside, when they’re looking at the trade, they look at it like, ‘What was that?’ ” Brassard said. “For me, what I say to that is it wasn’t a good fit. That’s all.”
Why wasn’t it a good fit?
Brassard had zero problem going there, speaking openly and honestly about why he never lived up to his Big Game Brass reputation.
“The last five years I had the reputation of playing well in the playoffs,” Brassard said. “But my responsibilities in Ottawa and New York were playing in the top-six and playing 18-20 minutes a night. I’m someone who likes to play with emotion. I think the last five years I proved that. In Pittsburgh, I had a hard time getting involved in games and being myself.”
That’s why Rutherford approached Brassard three weeks ago with a question.
“[Rutherford] was asking me, ‘What’s wrong?’ I had a good talk with him,” Brassard said. “It wasn’t anything personal on both sides. I wasn’t myself.
“Their expectation was for me to be a 50- or 60-point guy. What third-line center has 50-60 points? You’re limited somewhere — ice time or whatever.”
In Florida, Brassard has actually been playing the wing on the second line and skated Tuesday with former Senators teammate Mike Hoffman and Upper St. Clair native Vince Trocheck, whom Brassard called “a young, hungry center who skates all over the place.”
The difference in Brassard’s game was evident. He was absolutely more engaged and looked much more like the player the Penguins thought they were getting, the guy who averaged 19 goals and 48 points over the five seasons preceding the trade and the guy with 55 points in 78 career postseason games before last season.
Not the guy who finished the 2018 Eastern Conference semifinals on the fourth line or the one who looked discombobulated for much of his Penguins tenure.
“Playing behind [Sidney Crosby] and [Evgeni Malkin], that was hard and challenging for me, trying to stay sharp, be on the ice and have a role,” Brassard said. “I was playing center behind not only the two best players on the team but probably the two best players of my generation at my position. I feel like sometimes it was hard to get involved.”
‘It wasn’t Sully’s fault’
After Wednesday’s interview concluded and before Brassard began his postgame workout, he first wanted to know the score of the Penguins game. Upon learning they had lost, 4-0, to Carolina at home, Brassard shook his head in frustration.
As infuriating as the trade might’ve been for the Penguins and their fans, Brassard insisted there are no hard feelings. He’s equally as mad things never clicked.
“I have a ton of respect for everyone there,” Brassard said. “I wish it would’ve worked out. But I think it was a really good experience for me to see Sid, Geno, Tanger … all their best players, the way they operate every day.
“Also the way the staff prepares; it’s a first-class organization. They pay attention to details so much. I’m not surprised they’ve won so many times.”
Brassard said he and coach Mike Sullivan had plenty of conversations about the center’s ice time. Usually, Sullivan insisted he would do what he could to get Brassard more.
“I had a good relationship with Sully,” Brassard said, “Every time Sully and I had a conversation, he would always say, ‘I’ll find you more minutes.’
“But it wasn’t Sully’s fault. There was nothing else he could have done. There’s so much to manage on that team. It is what it is. It just wasn’t a good fit.”
‘Not an easy thing to do’
Brassard also found it difficult to penetrate the Penguins’ leadership structure, spearheaded by Crosby, Malkin and others.
He said it was too hard to come in as an outsider and feel part of the group given what the Penguins’ core had accomplished together. It was similar to what Trevor Daley experienced in Chicago a couple years ago before coming to Pittsburgh and thriving.
“Yes, they have good guys, they make you feel unbelievable, their organization, staff, everyone is unreal,” Brassard said. “But the fact that they have star power, they won, it’s the same core and everything … you’re coming in as a new guy, and it’s not an easy thing to do.”
Ultimately, though, it came down to the mental side of things.
Brassard wasn’t comfortable, and the Penguins weren’t getting what they wanted out of him. Which is why Brassard said he fully expected to get moved when he did.
And he’s thrilled to get a fresh start.
“A lot of times they’re going to say it’s between your ears as a hockey player or any athlete,” Brassard said. “The pressure that I had was coming in from a trade, and that expectation was real high.
“I still consider myself an offensive player. This year has been rough, but I feel like our team is really close to becoming a very good team. We have really good assets. I think it’ll give me a better chance to be myself again.”
First Published: February 6, 2019, 4:24 a.m.
