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D Erik Brannstrom (2017, 15th, VGK - Traded to OTT)

Leave him in Sweden for 2 years, no point playing in the dumpster fire called Vegas. He should come over same time as Glass and Nick S are leaving juniors, maybe then they have some sort of decent team. Oh man what a bad expansion draft by Vegas, when they did a good 1 round at drafting.
 
Some of you are acting like we are suddenly seeing new skills and development from him in this tournament!

NHL scouts and GMs know that this is exactly who he is and how he was advertised --you don't get drafted 14th overall as a 5'9 (or 5'10) dman unless you have excellent skills/vision etc. He has always played exceptionally well against his age group --the question with him remains on how well he will do against 210pd NHL forwards on every line.

I really like this player lots but 14th overall was the right spot for him, and one summer tournament with A and B squads doesn't move him higher up the draft board.
 
93LEAFS said:
Since 1990, I don't think a single player who defender who played in the NHL at 18 has lived up to expectations offensively. The best player is Brent Burns (who only played 36 games and was sent to the WJC and also spent time on the wing if I remember correctly). The other defender who spent a full season was Hamrlik who I don't think ever reached his anything resembling his offensive ceiling. The other guys were Bogosian, Kyle McLaren, Trevordovsky, Sbisa, and Aki Berg. The jury is still out on Ekblad and Hanafin, as they could be the exception. For whatever reason, the same doesn't appear to happen to 19-year-olds in their D+1 like Pronger, Doughty, Hedman, etc. But it is still a fairly mixed bag.

As for players playing their D+1 in the NHL on an expansion team, it seems the guys who waited a year to come out faired much better. It is basically Kariya, Yashin, Legwand, Klesla vs Gaborik, Hamrlik, R. Niedermayer, Stefan, and Falloon.

I'd say unless you are talking about guys who are physical beats that you should probably avoid taking the gamble. Yes, each case is individual, but it would be foolish to ignore history. Brannstrom may have played 20 minutes a game occasionally, but he still averaged the ice-time of a specialist in a league that allows 7 defenders to be played at one (12 minutes a game).
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There is a balance in here. I am one who always argues for balance, in almost everything in life :)

So in this case, of course it would be foolish to ignore history. I 100% agree. But it would also be foolish to also ignore if he actually shines in training camp, his first 9 nine games, and then maybe regular ice time. There is a middle ground here and you make decisions accordingly. If he looks just "okay" in training camp, then send him right back to the SHL.

So that is why I mean by I agree with you about sending him back but disagree with the generalization and think there are some situations that could happen in the next few months that could be a good reason to be in the NHL, just WAAAYY more likely to have better reasons to keep him in the SHL. No need to be black or white :)
 
93LEAFS said:
He's not really like any of those guys. Logan Couture is probably what you are hoping for if he reaches near the top of his potential. Horvat is a very strong on the puck, Colin White isn't quite that but he's a much stronger player than Suzuki. Suzuki's question is can his smarts and hands overcome his lack of ability to create space by skating or strength.
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I should've worded that a little better. I didn't really mean stylistically either. I meant he's like the aforementioned where he doesn't really dazzle you, but somehow at the end of the game he ends up with 2-3 points.

But back on topic, not to take away anything from that pass, but the Blue defender should be benched for the rest of the showcase. He literally just watched the puck go by his feet and didn't even move. Like wtf...?

Across the body, full ice pass tape to tape is extremely impressive regardless though.
 
Circulartheory said:
There is a balance in here. I am one who always argues for balance, in almost everything in life :)

So in this case, of course it would be foolish to ignore history. I 100% agree. But it would also be foolish to also ignore if he actually shines in training camp, his first 9 nine games, and then maybe regular ice time. There is a middle ground here and you make decisions accordingly. If he looks just "okay" in training camp, then send him right back to the SHL.

So that is why I mean by I agree with you about sending him back but disagree with the generalization and think there are some situations that could happen in the next few months that could be a good reason to be in the NHL, just WAAAYY more likely to have better reasons to keep him in the SHL. No need to be black or white :)
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I think with 18-year-old defenders it's pretty black and white. I see no way that he'll be ready to be an NHL regular. The history of 18-year-old defenders combined with the risk attached to putting players in their d+1 on expansion teams in my mind would make the chance of it being successful pretty minuscule. I also don't think it would be a good idea to put Heiskanen in the NHL this year, and he would be going to a much more stable situation and got top 4 minutes in Sm-liiga last year. There are clear exceptions like Dahlin might be, especially if he can crack Frolunda's top 4 this year. In general, it seems to work out better sending D+1 players back. The only legitimate #1 defenders who played in the NHL in their D+1 were Doughty and Hedman, with guys like Jones tracking to be one. The jury is out on Hanifin and Ekblad. Fowler has developed into a top pairing guy. I'd think outside of exceptional circumstances, it is always a good idea to be ultra-cautious with young defenders, especially ones who don't possess a combo of NHL size and strong skating.

I also think it would be unwise to put any player from this draft on a first year expansion team due to the general instability surrounding a player in that situation. There is no established leadership and they are generally asked to punch above their weight class. It takes a truly elite player to excel in that environment such as a Malkin, Matthews, Stamkos, Tavares or Eichel level talent, and even then it would be asking a lot.
 
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The one thing you have to take into account when you watch him in pre-season is that he might look really good in those games and be better than most of the players on Vegas. You have to think about the whole NHL season and if he can handle a 82 game season against the best men in the world. When you look at his size it will be tougher for him to handle a full NHL season and his play will probably drop off by November because of how hard the season will be on him, I can't imagine how much harder it'll be by March.

So, he might look good in the first couple games, but once he starts hitting those back to back games and his body gets beat up a bit because he will get hit a lot, you'll probably notice his play drop off which is why it isn't a good reason to keep him in the NHL regardless of how he looks in pre-season. How he plays later in the season matters more and it will surely drop off.
 
Had a great WJSS. Only criticism I had was his shooting, otherwise Brannstrom made impressive plays, good reads, and was strong in his own end.

Size would obviously be a criticism as well, but it doesn't hinder him at the Jr level.

I thought he was Swedens second best D in this tournament behind Liljegren. Brannstrom's 3 points in 4 games is nothing to sneeze at.
 
Colt.45Orr said:
Some of you are acting like we are suddenly seeing new skills and development from him in this tournament!

NHL scouts and GMs know that this is exactly who he is and how he was advertised --you don't get drafted 14th overall as a 5'9 (or 5'10) dman unless you have excellent skills/vision etc. He has always played exceptionally well against his age group --the question with him remains on how well he will do against 210pd NHL forwards on every line.

I really like this player lots but 14th overall was the right spot for him, and one summer tournament with A and B squads doesn't move him higher up the draft board.
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Against Finland I thought he was just fine, the pass he made was a thing of beauty but I've seen him ice that pass countless of times in the past. The game against Canada was however the best I've seen him play against international competition and I've seen most of his games the last couple of years.
 
Colt.45Orr said:
Some of you are acting like we are suddenly seeing new skills and development from him in this tournament!

NHL scouts and GMs know that this is exactly who he is and how he was advertised --you don't get drafted 14th overall as a 5'9 (or 5'10) dman unless you have excellent skills/vision etc. He has always played exceptionally well against his age group --the question with him remains on how well he will do against 210pd NHL forwards on every line.

I really like this player lots but 14th overall was the right spot for him, and one summer tournament with A and B squads doesn't move him higher up the draft board.
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I think you are exaggerating with this by just a bit. In the new NHL, skating and hockey sense takes precedent over big hulking dman. If players like Vatanen and Krug can be successful, I doubt Brannstrom will have much trouble in that department.
 
Looked pretty good, he should get a lot of hype in the future because he'll get to be the best player on a terrible team. Next OEL?
 
Man, really nice draft for Vegas. Didn't know a ton about Brannstrom, but he looked the part in this tournament.
 
Sens of Anarchy said:
http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=2377655

Looks like Liljegren is going to beat him in this poll
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Do you think if a team like Florida, Arizona, Anaheim, or hell even Vegas drafted Liljegren that would be the case? He's gonna beat a handful of guys who were drafted higher than him cause he ah...had mono. Yeah that's it. If it weren't for that mono he probably would've gone third overall.

That entire poll has been conducted dubiously. And let's be real. If Liljegren and Brannstrom had switched draft position we'd be hearing the latter's name a lot more than the former's
 
HanSolo said:
Do you think if a team like Florida, Arizona, Anaheim, or hell even Vegas drafted Liljegren that would be the case? He's gonna beat a handful of guys who were drafted higher than him cause he ah...had mono. Yeah that's it. If it weren't for that mono he probably would've gone third overall.

That entire poll has been conducted dubiously. And let's be real. If Liljegren and Brannstrom had switched draft position we'd be hearing the latter's name a lot more than the former's
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With that being said, if he were drafted by say Detroit at #9, and with a good showing he had in this tournament, he probably would've went higher in that poll. Goes both ways. Leaf fans actually like brannstrom a lot more than most imo, even before the summer showcase.
 
Brannstrom is a solid pick. Vegas really had a solid draft.

I hope they don't rush any of these guys.

Have another strong draft next year and take off.
 
HanSolo said:
Do you think if a team like Florida, Arizona, Anaheim, or hell even Vegas drafted Liljegren that would be the case? He's gonna beat a handful of guys who were drafted higher than him cause he ah...had mono. Yeah that's it. If it weren't for that mono he probably would've gone third overall.

That entire poll has been conducted dubiously. And let's be real. If Liljegren and Brannstrom had switched draft position we'd be hearing the latter's name a lot more than the former's
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Don't be so paranoid, who cares who ends up where in an HF poll.

Maybe Liljegren becomes much better than Brannstrom. Maybe Brannstrom becomes much better than him, but when two players are taken that close apart after the top 10 it can go either way.

You obviously don't know the effects on Mono on people, so why are you acting like it's not a big deal? We'll see as the player progresses if Mono had the negative impact on his season that he(and others) believe, but to totally disregard it is unfair to him. Scouts were told by Doctors when they were looking at Sean Couturier that it can take up to a year to get back up to form after mono. Logan Couture in his draft year didn't play up to his max potential due to mono.

The fact of the matter is, we don't know where Liljegren would have gone without mono, he said himself he didn't really feel like himself until January.

Both teams are thrilled with their selections and both should be great players.
 
X66 said:
Don't be so paranoid, who cares who ends up where in an HF poll.

Maybe Liljegren becomes much better than Brannstrom. Maybe Brannstrom becomes much better than him, but when two players are taken that close apart after the top 10 it can go either way.

You obviously don't know the effects on Mono on people, so why are you acting like it's not a big deal? We'll see as the player progresses if Mono had the negative impact on his season that he(and others) believe, but to totally disregard it is unfair to him. Scouts were told by Doctors when they were looking at Sean Couturier that it can take up to a year to get back up to form after mono. Logan Couture in his draft year didn't play up to his max potential due to mono.

The fact of the matter is, we don't know where Liljegren would have gone without mono, he said himself he didn't really feel like himself until January.

Both teams are thrilled with their selections and both should be great players.
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I just think it's silly to suggest that 12 professional scouting staffs wouldn't take mono into account in weighing their analysis.

I have no problem with Leafs fans being hopeful about Liljegren. Anyone who thinks he can't be a great player is out to lunch.

Also I don't care how the prospect poll goes. I was merely pointing out that one swede is getting defended and hyped with the kind of vigor that can only be sourced from having the largest fanbase behind it. It's too early to say whether it's justified or not but it's also too early to make claims like Toronto won the draft and that Liljegren is a top 10 prospect in all of hockey.
 
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