Confirmed with Link: Avs sign D Erik Brännström 900k X 1 year

[Pokecheque]

Very interesting. Can't say I love or hate this deal.

So between MacDonald, Rosen, Brannstrom, and Malinski I assume some guys are getting put on waivers and it's possible at least one gets claimed. Avs are maybe hedging their bets here.

 

[Avs44]

Rosen is kinda the same mold too.

In a pure vacuum, if you're a team that lacks puck movement and you have a guy you can pair with him to win battles... he's a great shot to take. On a team like the Avs where puck movement isn't a real issue and he's likely to be paired with CDH or Malinski... it sounds like a disaster.

Oh God...I forgot about the other options. What's the rationale from management here? Do they not see Bednar's preferences? Or how badly they're overplaying the top guys? MacDonald, Rosen, Malinski, and CDH better not be the #5, #6, #7, and #8 options going into next season. I wish they'd either find a guy who can be trusted on the pk to keep Makar off of it or find a low event guy who can be trusted by Bednar to play 15 minutes without doing anything stupid. Or a bigger physical guy, but those bottom pairing types are high-risk too and Bednar doesn't like that either.

 

[UncleRisto]

Don't really get this one but whatever. I thought this guy had busted.

Who said he hasn't?

 

[henchman21]

Its actually smart to give them a run and test things. I really dont see us dropping a player bednar likes over one he doesnt.

Eh... IMO the Avs are not in the test realm of things. They have an established top 4 they utilize and need role players.

Dropping as in getting rid of? No... but putting in the minors, yeah that happens. They forced Kaut on him for a while despite Bednar clearly not liking his game.

 

[Richard88]

I like the risk/reward, but yes have trouble seeing where he fits on our team. Our top pair doesn't have a mean guy and having Girard/Malinski/Brannstrom 4-7 doesn't help that either. Would have preferred to target Kovacevic for the role.

Makes me wonder if there's a cap-clearing G trade coming down the pipe. He's the most logical to move after Colton who just had his NTC kick in.

Maybe he can play RHD with De Haan on the 2nd pair? We are one Manson injury from icing a bunch of midgets on D

I don't think they'd move Girard right now with none of Brännström, Gulyayev, Behrens, and Malinski established yet, but if any of those guys makes big steps this year it would definitely make Girard more expendable.

 

[henchman21]

Oh God...I forgot about the other options. What's the rationale from management here? Do they not see Bednar's preferences? Or how badly they're overplaying the top guys? MacDonald, Rosen, Malinski, and CDH better not be the #5, #6, #7, and #8 options going into next season. I wish they'd either find a guy who can be trusted on the pk to keep Makar off of it or find a low event guy who can be trusted by Bednar to play 15 minutes without doing anything stupid. Or a bigger physical guy, but those bottom pairing types are high-risk too and Bednar doesn't like that either.

This is exactly what I don't get. CDH sucks, but he makes sense. This move just doesn't. If G was traded and this was a trial run until the deadline, sure. Brannstrom plays a similar (but worse) sort of game.

Screams of a disconnect. We know he doesn't like MacDonald. We know they made moves to keep Malinski out of the lineup, which signals a preference there. We know Rosen wasn't liked. It is just odd and adding another name to that pile. Its like we're going to have a gladiator fight between soft puck moving defensemen who play risky games.

 

[Avs44]

I don't think they'd move Girard right now with none of Brännström, Gulyayev, Behrens, and Malinski established yet, but if any of those guys makes big steps this year it would definitely make Girard more expendable.

Oh, I forgot we now have Behrens in the AHL too! God. @RoyIsALegend get in here and please rant about all of our tiny non-physical defensmen.

 

[The Mars Volchenkov]

Why are people bringing up MacDonald? Did you see that AHL salary? They brought that dude in to play down there.

 

[Avs44]

This is exactly what I don't get. CDH sucks, but he makes sense. This move just doesn't. If G was traded and this was a trial run until the deadline, sure. Brannstrom plays a similar (but worse) sort of game.

Screams of a disconnect. We know he doesn't like MacDonald. We know they made moves to keep Malinski out of the lineup, which signals a preference there. We know Rosen wasn't liked. It is just odd and adding another name to that pile. Its like we're going to have a gladiator fight between soft puck moving defensemen who play risky games.

Maybe they're Sam Girard's new opponents for the battle of the mighty midgets, Alex DeBrincat style? Maybe we need so many because Girard will be knocking them out in practice to get hyped before the game.

 

[Richard88]

I wonder if they're done with the D after this move or if there's another one coming.

I'd guess that they're done and see DeHaan as a regular, but if they could add a bigger PK'er as well it would certainly make the Brännström addition look more logical. Maybe that's one for the TDL though.

Toews - Makar
Girard - Manson
xxxxx - Brännström
DeHaan - Malinski
MacDonald
Rosen
Behrens

 

[Chiarelli]

I mean between this and signing Edmundson for 4x4 or Lybushkin for 3x3 I know which one I'm choosing.

 

[henchman21]

Oh, I forgot we now have Behrens in the AHL too! God. @RoyIsALegend get in here and please rant about all of our tiny non-physical defensmen.

It goes further... here's the full left shot D depth chart

Toews
Girard
CDH
Brannstrom
Achan
Behrens
MacDonald
Rosen
Weinstein
Middleton
Aamodt

G, Brannstrom, Achan, MacDonald, and Rosen all play that similar style. Behrens has a bit more snarl, but he's not far removed from it either.

 

[GirardSpinorama]

If Bednar wanted EJ back for a million, we would have done it.

 

[The Merchant]

Why are people bringing up MacDonald? Did you see that AHL salary? They brought that dude in to play down there.

There are few things that HFAvs enjoys more than nitpicking a move that everyone else loves.

 

[the_fan]

We’re gearing up for a deep AHL playoff run with all the signings this last couple of days

 

[henchman21]

Why are people bringing up MacDonald? Did you see that AHL salary? They brought that dude in to play down there.

Tufte, Hunt, Englund, and Hudon are all guys who had that same sort of deal and played games for the Avs. I'd say that salary gives him more of a chance to play some NHL games, not less. Though I'd highly doubt he's penciled in for the opening night.

 

[NMAvsman]

Still think this means a 1-2 month trial period to buy us time to move Sammy G if it works out with Malinski, Behrens, or Brannstrom to take his role over (need 2 out of 3 since one will move up from the third pairing) and then decide the fate of Val vs Sammy. Damn you Val.....I loved ya but you made a mess of our Cap. We could still move Val if he is cleared to play, but damn if he wouldn't help our top 6.

 

[GirardSpinorama]

This is exactly what I don't get. CDH sucks, but he makes sense. This move just doesn't. If G was traded and this was a trial run until the deadline, sure. Brannstrom plays a similar (but worse) sort of game.

Screams of a disconnect. We know he doesn't like MacDonald. We know they made moves to keep Malinski out of the lineup, which signals a preference there. We know Rosen wasn't liked. It is just odd and adding another name to that pile. Its like we're going to have a gladiator fight between soft puck moving defensemen who play risky games.

I actually see the being the case. Gladiator style until we find a puck mover who can play solid minutes. Even Andreas Englund, who i really liked, was traded away cause JMFJ is a better puck mover.

 

[Freaky Styley]

It goes further... here's the full left shot D depth chart

Toews
Girard
CDH
Brannstrom
Achan
Behrens
MacDonald
Rosen
Weinstein
Middleton
Aamodt

G, Brannstrom, Achan, MacDonald, and Rosen all play that similar style. Behrens has a bit more snarl, but he's not far removed from it either.

To further this point, I still wouldn't rule out bringing JJ back to be the #7-8. Although maybe CMac isn't just so Bednar can't overplay him. But a mixture of Brannstrom/JJ/de Hann/Rosen/Behrens should be able to cover us on the left side until the deadline. I do think a G deal is coming.

 

[Muffin]

Is he actually not an elite skater? How can he be one of the best prospects at one point at his size without being an elite skater?

 

[Ararana]

This will make a lot more sense when they trade Girard tomorrow

 

[sethro109]

I don't like how many people are mentioning that he's a turnover machine.

 

[the_fan]

This will make a lot more sense when they trade Girard tomorrow

Or Toews

 

[The Mars Volchenkov]

Tufte, Hunt, Englund, and Hudon are all guys who had that same sort of deal and played games for the Avs. I'd say that salary gives him more of a chance to play some NHL games, not less. Though I'd highly doubt he's penciled in for the opening night.

I’m not sure what you’re getting at here. Outside of Hunt his first year, those guys all played a very small amount of time in Colorado. Englund was only making $200k on the Eagles, so he doesn’t even belong in that group. MacDonald is set to make over $500k. They saw how important it was to have Hunt down there all last season and probably want that stability again.

 

[henchman21]

Is he actually not an elite skater? How can he be one of the best prospects at one point at his size without being an elite skater?

He's not an elite skater. Average, maybe slightly above, but at his size it isn't good enough.

The second question is pretty easy... people just don't evaluate skating all that well. It is easy to label prospects elite skaters, but very few actually are. Jost had that label and he's a poor skater in the NHL. Brannstrom's skating ability was hidden by playing on big ice and against lower competition. It was good in Sweden, arguably even great there. Problem is that in the NHL 90% of the league are good skaters. The margins just narrow so much.