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

[Micklebot]

It's interesting, the things I thought would cause him problems aren't really what has been the issue.

I thought he'd have more issues with his defensive game, but positionally, he's been solid and he's mostly made good decisions in his own end.

I thought the physicality would overwhelm him, but for the most part he really hasn't been abused because of a lack of strength or size. Sure, there are times when bigger players can out-muscle him, but I'm not finding myself constantly worrying about that aspect like I have with other physically challenged dmen (cough.. cough... Wiercough)

Where I thought his skillset would shine was in his skating and offensive instincts, but he just hasn't shown enough speed to allow his edgework and otherwise great skating shine. He's not really made those reads to jump into the rush or find that seam for a stretch pass that I saw last year.

Anyways, I'd like to see him go down to Belleville. He'd be a great asset there and could play a more offensive role, find his confidence, and become a better player for it imo.

 

[stempniaksen]

And it's official.

 

[coladin]

That is the best plan moving forward. He has shown, other than the obvious gaffe the other night, that he can play defence. he can play positionally. He can battle. But he needs to game to slow down and start working on his offence, which he is capable of doing

 

[Joeyjoejoe]

Felt like he was being rushed to the league because of the Woalanin injury.

 

[Icelevel]

Yay. Hopefully Wolanin is back soon. Or use Jaros if needed.

 

[Micklebot]

Yay. Hopefully Wolanin is back soon. Or use Jaros if needed.

I imagine it`s end of Jan or later for Wolanin. Haven't heard any updates though .

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

I thought Lajoie had a good game vs the Oilers. Brannstrom has to take everything back with him. Stay positive. Work on his game and be ready for training camp next year with some added power in his legs

 

[Micklebot]

Somewhat of a mirror of last year where Lajoie won the spot of of camp but got sent down after playing for a while with the big club.

Lajoie getting a second kick at the can, hope he does well. I've liked him as a prospect since seeing him in his first dev camp.

 

[Senscore]

I hope he finds his footing. He's a very talented player.

 

[slamigo]

It's funny how Simmer has been calling this for weeks.

 

[Six Assets]

Brannstrom nhl highlights:

 

[LeProspector]

It’s about damn time.

Go destroy some worlds down there Brannstrom!!!

 

[h2]

Good move, should have been done a month ago. I think he 'll rebound nicely in Belleville and hopefully finish the year down there on a high.

 

[coladin]

Sens Prospects put up his highlight reel on Twitter. check it out to remember what we thought we were getting!

 

[Alex1234]

3 Best Steak Houses in Belleville, ON - Expert Recommendations

Needs to visit every week until next training camp

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

I agree with this perspective. Are Chlapik and Paul pieces you want in your bottom 6 Y/N ... One way to find out and we want to find out with the other bodies we have coming.
Same for Lajoie and Jaros . Where do they fit in . Are they bottom pair players? Do we want one or both in that role?

 

[Icelevel]

I thought Lajoie had a good game vs the Oilers. Brannstrom has to take everything back with him. Stay positive. Work on his game and be ready for training camp next year with some added power in his legs

yup that's what i see. He needs extra power in the legs and extra confidence.

 

[thinkwild]

I agree with this perspective. Are Chlapik and Paul pieces you want in your bottom 6 Y/N ... One way to find out and we want to find out with the other bodies we have coming.
Same for Lajoie and Jaros . Where do they fit in . Are they bottom pair players? Do we want one or both in that role?

I agree with his perspective too. Perhaps another way i might phrase your question is are Chlapik and Paul pieces i want in the bottom 6 ahead of experienced vets that have carved out a role and can be had on a relatively cheap short term ufa contracts? At the moment i'd be leaning to yes we should keep them longer as they both have earned a chance to carve out a role that could be helpful to us. Lajoie and Jaros still need to earn that right but they should get chances to rotate in id figure

 

[DJB]

Long overdue. Some of us have been asking for this for weeks now.

He still has big upside. But needs to get bigger, stronger and a bit faster.

 

[aragorn]

I thought Lajoie had a good game vs the Oilers. Brannstrom has to take everything back with him. Stay positive. Work on his game and be ready for training camp next year with some added power in his legs

Agreed. I like Lajoie a lot, he's not a flashy defenceman but he is steady & plays defence with a bit of an edge & waits for his chances offensively. IMO he does a lot of things well defensively & hopefully the offence will come with him although I don't expect a lot of pts from this guy ever. IMO he is a very good 3rd pairing defenceman with 2nd pairing potential.

As you know, I'm not a fan of Brannstrom, while he has shown glimpses of some good passing skills he consistently is overpowered defensively by bigger & stronger NHL players. It will be interesting to see how he does in Belleville, but I expect him to do better than he has in the NHL so far. At some point we have to see some offence from this guy, that's suppose to be what he is good at.

Jaros concerns me defensively, he seems prone to giving the puck away with regularity. I would have rather kept Harpur who is big & tough & can clear the front of the net & drop them when needed although he can be prone to giving it away too. The defence in general concerns me & seems like a very soft defence that will get pushed around if they don't either keep a couple of their tougher defencemen or draft a couple. Their future defence will need to put up a lot of pts to make up for the goals against if they are unable to handle the NHL's big forwards.

 

[BatherSeason]

would have rather kept Harpur who is big & tough & can clear the front of the net & drop them when needed although he can be prone to giving it away too.

We know you love size and toughness, but Harpur was one of the softest big men I have ever seen play. Sure he could fight, but that really doesn't matter anymore.

 

[aragorn]

We know you love size and toughness, but Harpur was one of the softest big men I have ever seen play. Sure he could fight, but that really doesn't matter anymore.

Soft & could fight in the same paragraph doesn't make sense. He wasn't soft at all, he was pretty tough, cleared the front of the net & fought some tough guys, but he wasn't a great defenceman. My point was that IMO he brought more than Jaros & played a role well which most probably disagree with.

 

[Philadelphia Collins]

His defensive game was a nice surprise, but I had no idea he was as slow as he was, ironic that he was traded for Mark Stone lol.

hopefully going down he starts to put up some numbers offensively and doesn’t sulk about it, kids gonna be a good one for us

 

[Sensinitis]

Good move. He’s shown flashes of elite upside but few and far between. His defensive game has gotten strong.

hopefully he will dominate the A with all this experience he got.

let’s see what we have with Lajoie now...

 

[SpezDispenser]

I dont understand why they kept him up as long as they did. I loved how he looked most of the time, but you want his offensive game to grow too. Let him get 20 plus in the ahl...goodness knows we have the time to develop these players.