Player Discussion Erik Brännström |5'10, 181lbs | Left Handed Defenceman

[DJB]

My biggest gripe with Dorion is forcing our prospects when they aren't ready. And he's doing it again with Brannstrom

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

My biggest gripe with Dorion is forcing our prospects when they aren't ready. And he's doing it again with Brannstrom

Seriously? That's your biggest gripe with Dorion?

 

[coladin]

My biggest gripe with Dorion is forcing our prospects when they aren't ready. And he's doing it again with Brannstrom

The good thing is he is not playing much, so hopefully learning on the job will work for him. I am amazed at how much trouble he has evading forecheckers when trying to escape from behind the dots. Just looks so slow

 

[FormentonTheFuture]

Can we send him down now? He isn't ready whatsoever

He looks ready defensively

 

[JD1]

My biggest gripe with Dorion is forcing our prospects when they aren't ready. And he's doing it again with Brannstrom

What is it that makes you think Brannstrom is not ready?

 

[DJB]

Seriously? That's your biggest gripe with Dorion?

Fine one of the biggest.

The other is being a yes man for Melnyk

 

[DJB]

He looks ready defensively

I disagree.

I think mentally he plays defensively ok. Seems to know where to go, but he simply doesn't have the strength to play the position

 

[DJB]

What is it that makes you think Brannstrom is not ready?

Offensive defenceman prospect.

17 NHL games. 1 assist

/ discussion

 

[Tuna99]

Offensive defenceman prospect.

17 NHL games. 1 assist

/ discussion

I don’t mind what I see. He’s good at jumping into the rush and making a pass. He’s not fast enough to create separation yet and he gets swallowed up pretty easily, but once he gets his legs under him he’ll be good. He’s more past first join the rush type of D man, then lead the rush like EK.

 

[LeProspector]

Brannstrom needs to be send back down. It’s not like he’s been snakebitten... he hasn’t produced much on the offensive side of the puck; I boil that down to confidence issues more than anything.

 

[FolignoQuantumLeap]

Brannstrom needs to be send back down. It’s not like he’s been snakebitten... he hasn’t produced much on the offensive side of the puck; I boil that down to confidence issues more than anything.

It boil's down more to situation than anything. Not like he's getting a bunch of PP time and he can't just abandon the Hainsey to help offensively. He's mainly been just covering for Hainsey's poor decisions and foot speed.

I agree that he should go down though. He needs to be getting more share of the puck and PP time and he ain't gonna get it here. He can play at this level but he'll get more out of 20+ minutes in Bville than 14 and change here and covering for an aged out vet.

 

[Sensinitis]

He’s been doing fine but he likely gets sent down to dominate a bit once Wolanin is warmed up and ready to go.

 

[BurgoShark]

I think they will send him down around 7th-10th December. There are four more back to backs between now and the 5th December so they can stick with the plan of having him sit those games.

Wolanin won’t be ready until at least Feb though, so I think they’ll give someone one else a shot in December/January.

 

[robsenz]

I don’t mind what I see. He’s good at jumping into the rush and making a pass. He’s not fast enough to create separation yet and he gets swallowed up pretty easily, but once he gets his legs under him he’ll be good. He’s more past first join the rush type of D man, then lead the rush like EK.

That's his biggest downside in the NHL so far is his lack of speed and just in general he isn't really moving his legs. He's smart enough to make up for that though, definitely going to be a regular NHLer no question, hopefully he comes with the offense we all expected at some point, even if he tops out as a 40pt guy, cause he isn't surprisingly solid defensively for a guy his size and age.

 

[aragorn]

I boil it down more to situation than anything. Not like he's getting a bunch of PP time and he can't just abandon the Hainsey to help offensively. He's mainly been just covering for Hainsey's poor decisions and foot speed.

I agree that he should go down though. He needs to be getting more share of the puck and PP time and he ain't gonna get it here. He can play at this level but he'll get more out of 20+ minutes in Bville than 14 and change here and covering for an aged out vet.

This is exactly the opposite of what Smith says about Hainsey, in fact, he keeps telling us how much Hainsey is helping & teaching Brannstrom since they have been put together. I'm hoping that Hainsey gets picked up by someone leading up to the deadline which is quite possible because he is playing well.

 

[FolignoQuantumLeap]

This is exactly the opposite of what Smith says about Hainsey, in fact, he keeps telling us how much Hainsey is helping & teaching Brannstrom since they have been put together. I'm hoping that Hainsey gets picked up by someone leading up to the deadline which is quite possible because he is playing well.

Eye test suggests otherwise and the stats back it up. SF% Brannstrom 49, Hainsey 46. CF% Brannstrom 49, Hainsey 46. He's out performing his partner. When Thomas Chabot and Brannstrom play together they have a 67 CF%. Hainsey and Chabot 63%.

When you put the two biggest anchors together on our D in Zaitsev and Hainsey they're at 20%. Those guys are bad.

I also hope someone picks up Hainsey. That way we might get a conditional pick and play someone else who can actually contribute. Not likely though since most teams will know he's not good enough to be a NHL defenseman.

 

[JD1]

Eye test suggests otherwise and the stats back it up. SF% Brannstrom 49, Hainsey 46. CF% Brannstrom 49, Hainsey 46. He's out performing his partner. When Thomas Chabot and Brannstrom play together they have a 67 CF%. Hainsey and Chabot 63%.

When you put the two biggest anchors together on our D in Zaitsev and Hainsey they're at 20%. Those guys are bad.

I also hope someone picks up Hainsey. That way we might get a conditional pick and play someone else who can actually contribute. Not likely though since most teams will know he's not good enough to be a NHL defenseman.

Stats are an interesting thing. You can start with many perspectives and find stats to support your opinion. In this instance @aragorn is referencing Smith talking about Hainsey teaching Brannstrom. That implies verbal communication between the players. What stat have you to measure the verbal communication? Pieces of advice/60? Smith finds value in a veteran d man having influence over a young player, as do pretty much all NHL coaches.

You have a couple of hand selected micro stats that support your view.

Heres a macro level stat for you: the Sens are 11th in the league in goals for % at 5 on 5. Last year they were 27th. Same goaltending. Likely less hands to convert goals for up front

Something is clearly working. A good part of what is working imo is our 6 D being an upgrade over what we had last year and them moving the puck out of our end better than what we saw last year. That's what the eye test tells me and high level stats support that.

If you want to try to isolate some small selective stats to support sending Brannstrom to the minors or that Hainsey sucks, go for it, but make no mistake our 6 D are delivering better than expected results.

 

[FolignoQuantumLeap]

Stats are an interesting thing. You can start with many perspectives and find stats to support your opinion. In this instance @aragorn is referencing Smith talking about Hainsey teaching Brannstrom. That implies verbal communication between the players. What stat have you to measure the verbal communication? Pieces of advice/60? Smith finds value in a veteran d man having influence over a young player, as do pretty much all NHL coaches.

You have a couple of hand selected micro stats that support your view.

Heres a macro level stat for you: the Sens are 11th in the league in goals for % at 5 on 5. Last year they were 27th. Same goaltending. Likely less hands to convert goals for up front

Something is clearly working. A good part of what is working imo is our 6 D being an upgrade over what we had last year and them moving the puck out of our end better than what we saw last year. That's what the eye test tells me and high level stats support that.

If you want to try to isolate some small selective stats to support sending Brannstrom to the minors or that Hainsey sucks, go for it, but make no mistake our 6 D are delivering better than expected results.

The team defensive numbers have very little to do with the defenders being better than last season. It has more to do with save percentage and team speed and tactics. Nilsson has a .930 sv% with a 2.66 GAA. Anderson's numbers are virtually the exact same as two years ago.

We no longer default to giving the other team the puck back as our primary defensive scheme and actually attempt to transition to offense by skating and making passes out of the zone instead of default dumps.

We've cast aside bad defensive slow forwards like Smith, Ryan, Pyatt, Boedker and gone younger and faster with the likes of Duclair, Paul, Brown. Pageau is a year removed from his Achilles injury and is in selke form. This makes all the difference. Defense isn't played as a 2 man pair, its 6 guys on the ice all doing their job and making reads at an incredible pace.

Our Dmen are still very very bad. Lack of improvement is reflected in Chabot's worse numbers. Zaitsev, Hainsey, Demelo are all still very bad players. Boro has been a nice surprise but he's still not a guy who should take a regular shift in the league. Hainsey is clearly one of the worst players in the entire NHL. Brannstrom will develop better away from him where he won't have to cover for him constantly being behind the play and focus on his own game instead.

 

[Silencio]

His point totals are down from last season (so far) but how exactly has DeMelo been a very bad player?

 

[FolignoQuantumLeap]

His point totals are down from last season (so far) but how exactly has DeMelo been a very bad player?

Bottom pairing D who needs to be sheltered and brings no offense to the table.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

This is exactly the opposite of what Smith says about Hainsey, in fact, he keeps telling us how much Hainsey is helping & teaching Brannstrom since they have been put together. I'm hoping that Hainsey gets picked up by someone leading up to the deadline which is quite possible because he is playing well.

I wonder if that was an aged vet that was here already or from somewhere other than the Leafs if DJ would think as highly of him. My jaded outlook towards all the Leaf acquisitions from the coach on down says no.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

I think Demelo is a servicable bottom pair RHD. Not perfect but pretty steady. Not as physical as I'd like generally. On this team , imo there is not a lot to pick and chose between any of the guys on the right side vbut I would rank them
Zaitsev
Demelo
Hainsey

 

[Korpse]

Eye test suggests otherwise and the stats back it up. SF% Brannstrom 49, Hainsey 46. CF% Brannstrom 49, Hainsey 46. He's out performing his partner. When Thomas Chabot and Brannstrom play together they have a 67 CF%. Hainsey and Chabot 63%.

When you put the two biggest anchors together on our D in Zaitsev and Hainsey they're at 20%. Those guys are bad.

I also hope someone picks up Hainsey. That way we might get a conditional pick and play someone else who can actually contribute. Not likely though since most teams will know he's not good enough to be a NHL defenseman.

Man you gotta learn to use advanced stats.

 

[FolignoQuantumLeap]

Man you gotta learn to use advanced stats.

Go on. Or are you just wanting to attack me instead of actually tackling the content of my post?

 

[FolignoQuantumLeap]

I think Demelo is a servicable bottom pair RHD. Not perfect but pretty steady. Not as physical as I'd like generally. On this team , imo there is not a lot to pick and chose between any of the guys on the right side vbut I would rank them
Zaitsev
Demelo
Hainsey

I do agree that Demelo is better than Hainsey. He's fine if he's your #7 but you can say that about almost every guy on the defense.