He came, he started scoring, and he helped ignite a team in need of a spark. Just as quickly, Gilbert Brulé is leaving the Portland Pirates for the promise of a bigger payday and a chance to play at a high level — just not in the National Hockey League.
According to the website for the Mettalurg Magnitogorsk of the Kontinental Hockey League, based in Russia, the team has reached a preliminary agreement with the 26-year-old first-round NHL draft pick (2005) for the remainder of this season.
Pirates’ general manager Brad Treliving confirmed the report Monday morning.
“We had offered him a contract but obviously he was able to get significantly more money there,” Treliving said via text message.
Brulé was on a Professional Tryout Agreement with the Pirates, and has played eight games, netting six goals and adding two assists.
In 308 career NHL games (including playoffs), Brulé has scored 45 goals and added 53 assists with 154 penalty minutes for the Columbus Blue Jackets, Edmonton Oilers and Coyotes.
In 103 career AHL games, Brulé has 34 goals, 31 assists and 149 penalty minutes. He sat out most of last season to deal with personal and family issues after a short stint in Switzerland.
Brulé attempted a comeback during training camp this summer with his most recent NHL team, the Phoenix Coyotes, the Pirates’ parent club. Given the long layoff, the Coyotes decided to give him a shot, but first with the Pirates, to help Brulé get his legs back underneath him.
After four games with no goals and just one point, the speedy forward caught fire, netting six goals in four games. Still hampered by a minor groin injury, Brulé was in and out of the lineup recently.
The Pirates, meanwhile, kept racking up points, and have collected at least one point in seven consecutive games (5-0-1-1). Brulé was a scratch in the team’s most recent pair of games, two road contests in Norfolk (an overtime loss and a shootout win).
The Pirates next play at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Hartford before returning home for a Black Friday contest at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee in Lewiston, also at 7 p.m.
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- Gilbert Brulé celebrates with teammate Brendan Shinnimin after scoring a goal for the Portland Pirates during a game at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee in Lewiston.
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- According to reports, Gilbert Brule will be playing hockey for the Mettalurg Magnitogorsk of the Kontinental Hockey League, based in Russia.
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