Dunno if he changed his game in St. Louis, but Brouwer wasn't really that kind of player for the Caps. He hits a lot, but he's not a punishing player, certainly not a Chris Simon. He was never a guy who created havoc in front of the net at ES, and he didn't open up space for Ovechkin and Backstrom in his year on the top line. There's value in his special teams play, but at ES Brouwer was pretty disappointing in his time with the Caps.
Brouwer got PP1 time with the Caps, even played with Ovie and Backstrom his first season, and he never hit 50. He got nearly 2 minutes a game on the Blues PP. His offense hasn't been held back by his usage.
Dunno if he changed his game in St. Louis, but Brouwer wasn't really that kind of player for the Caps. He hits a lot, but he's not a punishing player, certainly not a Chris Simon. He was never a guy who created havoc in front of the net at ES, and he didn't open up space for Ovechkin and Backstrom in his year on the top line. There's value in his special teams play, but at ES Brouwer was pretty disappointing in his time with the Caps.
Yeah the problem with the Gaudreau-Monahan-Hudler line is when it came to puck battles they all wait in an open space and hope the other guy comes out with the puck. What ends up happening is the one with the puck gets swarmed and loses possession.
Great off the rush, but we really needed a player for them who will do the battles.
Brouwer actually might get paired with Bennett, as well.