Around the NHL — Episode XLXVII

[Sens of Anarchy]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1850511039353245844

looking pretty good for a mid 2nd round pick.

Only 5' 11" though and he played 54 games in the KHL in 23/24
Sens maybe should consider expanding their scouting just a little.

 

[Agent Zuuuub]

Just listened to the Dorion hit on BPM:

- He would normally be involved in picks that were top 10 or so
- He said he was less involved in the Boucher pick
- Said in 2018 he was bummed they fell to 4th because they had a clear top 3 (Dahlin, Svechnikov, Tkachuk)
- I *think* he said he didn't have any live viewings of Tkachuk that year
- Went to go see Zadina against Baie Comeau and immediately said "we're not drafting this guy". Said there were rumours of character concerns.
- Their list at the end-of-season scouting meeting was (he says if his memory serves him correctly) Dahlin, Svechnikov, Tkachuk, Bouchard, Hughes, Dobson, Kotkaniemi, Zadina. The latter 5 were in the same tier.
- Said he liked Tkachuk at the world juniors but was blown away by Hughes. Said he thought it would take a him a few years to learn defence but that he had Erik Karlsson potential.
- He was willing to move from 3rd to 8th.
- Heard Arizona was taking Tkachuk at 5 if he was there
- Attributed his low goal total to having Greenway as his C.
- Said he respects Bergevin and Julien alot (MTL GM/coach at that time) and thinks their downfall wasn't managing or coaching but development. Says if he became GM again, Julien would be his pick for head coach.
- Viewed Kotkaniemi as a second line centre. Thought it would take him a few years to make the NHL.

I hope sometimes soon we stop talking about this goof.

Darkest period in Sens history.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

My name is I-Gor

https://x.com/i/web/status/1850523133649789018

Soko off to a good start in the AHL 5g 3a in 6gp.

still hard to make the jump as an offensive player that plays small with those heavy boots

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

Have to like it.. LoL

https://x.com/i/web/status/1850382645957701751

 

[Bjornar Moxnes]

Western Canada is a wagon this year. Do we think Calgary is legit?

Flames fan second here, imho, no. I think it's a mixture of the players hustling hard, other teams not taking them as seriously, surprisingly great goaltending, and slow starts from top-tier teams for their records. I don't see them as a playoff team, but I really do hope they become a bottom feeder for a good pick, which they may not do this year .

 

[Loach]

Just listened to the Dorion hit on BPM:

- He would normally be involved in picks that were top 10 or so
- He said he was less involved in the Boucher pick
- Said in 2018 he was bummed they fell to 4th because they had a clear top 3 (Dahlin, Svechnikov, Tkachuk)
- I *think* he said he didn't have any live viewings of Tkachuk that year
- Went to go see Zadina against Baie Comeau and immediately said "we're not drafting this guy". Said there were rumours of character concerns.
- Their list at the end-of-season scouting meeting was (he says if his memory serves him correctly) Dahlin, Svechnikov, Tkachuk, Bouchard, Hughes, Dobson, Kotkaniemi, Zadina. The latter 5 were in the same tier.
- Said he liked Tkachuk at the world juniors but was blown away by Hughes. Said he thought it would take a him a few years to learn defence but that he had Erik Karlsson potential.
- He was willing to move from 3rd to 8th.
- Heard Arizona was taking Tkachuk at 5 if he was there
- Attributed his low goal total to having Greenway as his C.
- Said he respects Bergevin and Julien alot (MTL GM/coach at that time) and thinks their downfall wasn't managing or coaching but development. Says if he became GM again, Julien would be his pick for head coach.
- Viewed Kotkaniemi as a second line centre. Thought it would take him a few years to make the NHL.

Thanks for this. Could have sworn he said DJ in there too. My french is bad though. Imvolved in top 10 picks, unless it turns out bad. Lol.

I hope sometimes soon we stop talking about this goof.

Darkest period in Sens history.

When he stops talking we can. It's funny now though.

 

[Burrowsaurus]

Brannstrom is getting isnnae love right now from Canucks fans

Has started very strong.

Actually him kastelic and chychrun have all started very very good

 

[Agent Zuuuub]

Brannstrom is getting isnnae love right now from Canucks fans

Has started very strong.

Actually him kastelic and chychrun have all started very very good

If we got an experienced 25 year old defenseman who instantly made the 3rd pair great and could play in the top 4, for only 900k. We'd be over the moon too.

 

[Burrowsaurus]

If we got an experienced 25 year old defenseman who instantly made the 3rd pair great and could play in the top 4, for only 900k. We'd be over the moon too.

Remember apparently Canucks would be ECSTATIC to trade him to us for nothing. That’s what we were told here

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

Brannstrom is getting isnnae love right now from Canucks fans

Has started very strong.

Actually him kastelic and chychrun have all started very very good

Love from Fans was never lacking;

Kasty has been playing well for the Bruins. Have not watched Chychrun.. playing with Carlson ? He can help make you look good.

 

[Dionysus]

Love from Fans was never lacking;

Kasty has been playing well for the Bruins. Have not watched Chychrun.. playing with Carlson ? He can help make you look good.

Kasty has been a monster it looks like. Finally putting it together. Good pro scouting by the Bruins. Pretty much exactly the player the Sens are looking for as a 4th line center who can play physical, drop the gloves, and chip in.

A replaceable piece, and someone you give up for a number 1 goalie no doubt. If he plays hard consistently, he will be a helluva 4th liner.

 

[BonHoonLayneCornell]

Too many extreme opinions sometimes but those guys are proven to be able to be NHL players, so no surprise they're finding some success. I'm interested to see if it exceeds this small sample size. The reality with Brannstrom is he was not total crap, but he was due the unreasonable 2 mil QO. For Chychrun he is due a monster contract soon and nobody should want to give him that based on last year at least, and it seemed like he was pretty interested in moving on. Kastelic was an inclusion for a real #1 goalie and Gaudette scored 2 goals last game too. I don't think we've seen any downgrade in their roles, but I can see why some may have wanted to grab Brannstrom when he was on waivers.

 

[Loach]

Too many extreme opinions sometimes but those guys are proven to be able to be NHL players, so no surprise they're finding some success. I'm interested to see if it exceeds this small sample size. The reality with Brannstrom is he was not total crap, but he was due the unreasonable 2 mil QO. For Chychrun he is due a monster contract soon and nobody should want to give him that based on last year at least, and it seemed like he was pretty interested in moving on. Kastelic was an inclusion for a real #1 goalie and Gaudette scored 2 goals last game too. I don't think we've seen any downgrade in their roles, but I can see why some may have wanted to grab Brannstrom when he was on waivers.

Can we just let him fly free? Be happy?

 

[BonHoonLayneCornell]

Can we just let him fly free? Be happy?

Everyone should be happy for these guys having success elsewhere. No reason to have harsh feelings towards any of them and it's just the business aspect of hockey at work.

 

[HSF]

Nucks fans loving Branny early on

 

[HSF]

If we got an experienced 25 year old defenseman who instantly made the 3rd pair great and could play in the top 4, for only 900k. We'd be over the moon too.

def a mistake not bringing him in

 

[Xspyrit]

Not that it hasn’t been said already, but I would gladly take Brannstrom, Kastelic and Joseph over some of the new guys we have here. They would make our depht great.

Regarding Chychrun, we had no choice to move on from him though.

Brannstrom is getting isnnae love right now from Canucks fans

Has started very strong.

Actually him kastelic and chychrun have all started very very good

Brannstrom is a good hockey player, yes he has his size vs his position to overcome but he’s going to be fine. Too many smarts that easily offsets his shortcomings

I think he fits well in Vancouver, he might be there for several years

 

[AchtzehnBaby]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1850378260598624462

 

[Wisp]

The context for Canucks fans loving with Brannstrom is tertiary puck moving on a third pair at league minimum. I think he has a lot of upside but we'll see where that goes.

The main thing Canucks fans love about him is it was a pretty surreal trade... Brannstrom was a player everyone talked about signing but were disappointed when he went to the Avalanche. Then they get him anyways & move Poolman's 2.5m in dead cap for just a 4th.

 

[GCK]

Not that it hasn’t been said already, but I would gladly take Brannstrom, Kastelic and Joseph over some of the new guys we have here. They would make our depht great.

Regarding Chychrun, we had no choice to move on from him though.



Brannstrom is a good hockey player, yes he has his size vs his position to overcome but he’s going to be fine. Too many smarts that easily offsets his shortcomings

I think he fits well in Vancouver, he might be there for several years

I’ll take Kleven, Gregor, Perron, Cousins and Ullmark over Brannstrom, Joseph, Kubalik, Kelly and Korpisalo all day.

3rd pair left D
3rd line winger with speed who kills penalties
Top 9 vet winger
4th line energy player
Starting goalie

Tank was better than Amadio but Jensen fits better than Chychrun.

 

[HSF]

Not that it hasn’t been said already, but I would gladly take Brannstrom, Kastelic and Joseph over some of the new guys we have here. They would make our depht great.

Regarding Chychrun, we had no choice to move on from him though.



Brannstrom is a good hockey player, yes he has his size vs his position to overcome but he’s going to be fine. Too many smarts that easily offsets his shortcomings

I think he fits well in Vancouver, he might be there for several years

Perron will be interesting to me. Always been a huge fan of his but even Det knew he was over the hill last year. With minimal PP time it will be interesting to see what he brings here.

Joseph to me makes more sense on the 3rd line with his speed than Perron

Not that it hasn’t been said already, but I would gladly take Brannstrom, Kastelic and Joseph over some of the new guys we have here. They would make our depht great.

Regarding Chychrun, we had no choice to move on from him though.



Brannstrom is a good hockey player, yes he has his size vs his position to overcome but he’s going to be fine. Too many smarts that easily offsets his shortcomings

I think he fits well in Vancouver, he might be there for several years

Even if you aren't a Branny fan the sens should have got another option on defense who had experience. Handing a spot to Kleven and being one injury away from having hamonic and JBD on your right side is def an interesting choice

 

[Xspyrit]

I’ll take Kleven, Gregor, Perron, Cousins and Ullmark over Brannstrom, Joseph, Kubalik, Kelly and Korpisalo all day.

I don't think anyone argued Korpisalo over Ullmark and we have been waiting Kleven for years as he was one of the few decent prospects we had left. Regarding Kleven, I was among the firsts to actually promote him and defend the pick. The Chychrun trade was pretty damn bad in terms of asset management (mostly Dorion's fault) but I think everyone understands that we needed a real RHD and more defensive than offensive so people were good with Jensen's inclusion. The downside about Jensen is his age and the fact that he won't be anything more than a stop gap solution. I really doubt we'll make the ECF this season or next

I was also pretty happy with Cousins signing and I was again among the firsts to talk against Kubalik last offseason and saying how useless he was when not scoring and that we had no PP time for him, etc. It's all there in my posting history. Gregor/Gaudette/etc replacing Kelly and Kastelic is a bit of a lateral movement in the end but I much preferred Kelly/Kastelic's physicality and other attributes (like Kastelic faceoff ability). That said, we probably had no choice to move Kastelic as the Bruins most likely really wanted him and we had to get rid of Dorion's mistake #177, Korpisalo. I really hope it was not a pro scouting decision to move on from him.

By the way, Gregor had a whooping 63 games experience playing on a NHL PK, maybe even less as the Leafs had poor options but might not have used him right away.

Finally, yes Kleven replaces Brannstrom on 3rd pair LD and it's fine but it's better to have 4 guys who can play each side as there is a lot of injuries during a season, which Brannstrom can do very well. I like Hamonic as a teammate and his intensity but I'd rather have a puck mover who is good both ways. I'd gladly pay 0.9 more for Brannstrom than Hamonic.

All that being said, not sure why you talk about all these players when I was specifically talking about Brannstrom, Kastelic and Joseph

- I'd much rather have Brannstrom than Hamonic
- I'd much rather have Kastelic than Cousins
- I'd much rather have Joseph than Amadio

 

[Xspyrit]

The context for Canucks fans loving with Brannstrom is tertiary puck moving on a third pair at league minimum. I think he has a lot of upside but we'll see where that goes.

The main thing Canucks fans love about him is it was a pretty surreal trade... Brannstrom was a player everyone talked about signing but were disappointed when he went to the Avalanche. Then they get him anyways & move Poolman's 2.5m in dead cap for just a 4th.

Brannstrom is perfect on a 3rd pair, particularly if you pair him with a big guy who can defend in the corners and in front of the net. The good thing too is he can fill in for an injury on any pair and will not look out of place. He did that well when Chabot has been injured the last 2 years.

If you look at ES production the last 2 years, only 99 D-men have had more ESP. Brett Pesce had 1 more ESP than him, for example. Pretty decent for a 3rd pairing guy

Then if you look at advanced it gets even better. Of course, he didn't have the hardest assignments like Sanderson/Chabot but he had the best defensive metrics at ES on the Sens overall the last 2 years.

In this image, the graph on bottom right shows exactly what happened with Brannstrom, he was replacement level in 2020-21 and 2021-22 but then had a really interesting progression from 2022-23 to 2023-24

Being big and tough is cool and all but in the end, what you really need is efficiency and it is what Brannstrom is going to offer. He helps keeping the play away from your net and pushes offense.

 

[Xspyrit]

Perron will be interesting to me. Always been a huge fan of his but even Det knew he was over the hill last year. With minimal PP time it will be interesting to see what he brings here.

Joseph to me makes more sense on the 3rd line with his speed than Perron

Perron replaces Tarasenko. Vlad is better offensively but Perron is better in all other facets. He's going through hard times so I don't know how he will play when he comes back but wishing him the best. It's Amadio who replaces Joseph's cap hit and 3rd line ES role

Joseph speed, forecheck intensity and PK ability would be very welcomed right now. Amadio -6 and 0 pts in 8 games is not a really good start to say the least.

Even if you aren't a Branny fan the sens should have got another option on defense who had experience. Handing a spot to Kleven and being one injury away from having hamonic and JBD on your right side is def an interesting choice

Our LD is pretty good but RD is still problematic as we can see with Zub's injury. Brannstrom was perfect to fill in for injury on both sides. We were stuck with Hamonic's contract and they didn't the desire/balls to send him to the AHL and re-sign Brannstrom. They are also very infatuated with size so not surprising that Brann is gone.

 

[GCK]

- I'd much rather have Brannstrom than Hamonic
- I'd much rather have Kastelic than Cousins
- I'd much rather have Joseph than Amadio

I’ll counter with

I’d much rather have Klevin at 3LD than Brannstrom and Klevin is 1.1M cheaper

I’d much rather have Gregor playing Joseph’s role, which he is playing at 2.1M cheaper.

I’d take Kastelic over Gaudette at 4LC but I think Ostapchuk will move into the role later this season and I’ll take him over both.