12th year center Gilbert Brule(19) takes a career best scoring season (18 goals and 24 assists for 42 points) with a couple of KHL squads to a fourth, new team in the league, Traktor Chelyabinsk for 2017/2018.
The 30-year old may not eclipse what he was able to produce last campaign but has seemingly found a good place to play through his final years on ice.
Gilbert Brule(7) Medvescak Zagreb
In late November he re-signed with Arizona Coyotes and was recalled after posting 7 goals and 5 assists in 11 games with Portland.
He skated 3 NHL games but failed to connect for any points and was set to be reassigned back down.
Not wanting to spend any more time in the minors he decided not to report and he was released by the team for breach of contract.
Unable to find another suitor he would sit for the remainder of 2013/2014.
For 2014/2015 he would sign a 1-year deal with Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg. In 44 KHL games he went on to score 10 goals and 5 assists.
It was rumored he was set to leave for the league a year earlier but decided to stay in North America.
The now 28-year old will spend his second season in the KHL but switch it up to skate with Medvescak Zagreb.
Gilbert Brule (7)
8th year right wing Gilbert Brule(7) was invited to Phoenix Coyotes‘ training camp after spending the 2011/2012 season and 12 playoff games with the team.
He was originally claimed off waivers from Edmonton Oilers.
He finished 31 games with 5 goals, 9 assists and a +7 rating, adding another 3 points in the postseason.
A veteran of 296 NHL contests, he’s only put 43 pucks in the net with 52 helpers and a troubling -38 plus/minus.
To be fair, most of those negative numbers were on a pair of squads well below a .500 winning percentage.
Originally a Columbus Blue Jackets‘ 1st round pick in the 2005 draft (#6 overall), he spent a couple of years in their prospect system but was traded to hometown team Edmonton, where in the 2009/2010 season he put up a career high 17 goals, 20 assists and 37 points.
His performance uptick earned him a first one-way, 2-year contract but after a season of sub-par point totals, he was once again headed for reassignment.
He tried to pick up his game overseas in Switzerland but that experiment went south in about a month. .
The 5’11” 186 lbs. forward was released by the Coyotes before the start of 2013/2014, but instead of moving on too far he decided to sign a pto with minor league affiliate Portland Pirates and has been a steady veteran presence putting up 6 goals and a pair of assists in 8 AHL games.
At just 26-years old, he still super-young but might be running out of time to prove his capabilities that were on fire in three years and a big Memorial Cup Championship win with Vancouver Giants.