Traded Erik Brännström - D - Part III

[playasRus]

The funny part is there's only a year difference in age between him and Thomson and 10 months between him and JBD yet nobody is considering giving up on them.

In addition to their similar ages, the last 3 years of development:

Thomson 21 yo: 16 NHL games, 78 AHL games, 57 SM-liiga games
Bernard-Docker 21 yo: 13 NHL games, 57 NHL games, 59 NCAA games
...
Brannstrom 22 yo: 112 NHL games, 50 AHL games

Brannstrom's stapled to our top 4 D, while Thomson and JBD played sheltered NHL minutes and AHL minutes. I don't see any of them thriving any more than Brann would have if they were thrown into the fire like he was as a 20-21 year old on the Senators PP/PK of all teams in the league.

 

[L'Aveuglette]

The funny part is there's only a year difference in age between him and Thomson and 10 months between him and JBD yet nobody is considering giving up on them.

Ah but you see, being 6' and over is all they need to know as to who they'd rather play.

 

[Alf Silfversson]

Brannstrom is 22 and still improving. Stop talking about him as if he was a 27 year-old who's already hit his ceiling. (That goes for half the posts in this thread)

It's weird for sure. How anyone can write off a 22 year old as a finished product is baffling.

And for the lack of offense goes he's had some bad puck luck. Could easily have an extra 2-4 goals and 4-5 assists or so. But he doesn't.

He had better puck lack last year. 13 points in 30 games. Really nice production.

His stat line the last two years combined is: 81 GP 2 G 25 A 27 P 53 PIM +/- -13. That's a full season on a bottom feeding team.

That is pretty decent for a 21/22 year old D breaking into the league.

 

[L'Aveuglette]

It's weird for sure. How anyone can write off a 22 year old as a finished product is baffling.

And for the lack of offense goes he's had some bad puck luck. Could easily have an extra 2-4 goals and 4-5 assists or so. But he doesn't.

He had better puck lack last year. 13 points in 30 games. Really nice production.

His stat line the last two years combined is: 81 GP 2 G 25 A 27 P 53 PIM +/- -13. That's a full season on a bottom feeding team.

That is pretty decent for a 21/22 year old D breaking into the league.

Let's not forget he was anchored to one of the worst dmen we've ever seen playing on this team for a big chunk of the last two seasons.

 

[GCK]

I honestly think playing him with Holden is the best case scenario. Kills two birds with one stone, we get Brannstrom playing, and Zaitsev pushed out.

I want to get Thomson in the lineup so to me it’s Brannstrom Holden and Thomson rotating. As long as Zaitsev is gone it’s doable.

 

[DueDiligence]

Nah most attractive years of stones contract are the early years and Stone is going to be 30 in 2 weeks. Not saying he is going to bad by any means. but not worth 9.5X5

Especially with his injury history.

 

[Alf Silfversson]

I want to get Thomson in the lineup so to me it’s Brannstrom Holden and Thomson rotating. As long as Zaitsev is gone it’s doable.

Getting Zaitsev off the team should be Dorion's primary focus this offseason.

Not only would our lineup look better, our prospects (Brann, JBD, Lassi) all slot much better.

 

[Emrasie]

I don't know what's the future for EB, here or elsewhere but on thing i will never understand and call stupid is guys here who kept saying again again and again that Brann is soft, he is really not. And he need to be tough with his size.

 

[aragorn]

I just don't think their is room in the lineup for Brann, is he going to replace Chabot, Zub or Sanderson when they are all healthy to start next season? Will Brannstrom beat out Sanderson? I just don't think so. That leaves 3 spots & they are already talking about Hamonic playing with Chabot & given that they re-signed Holden my guess is that he will play as well. That leaves one spot for Brannstrom, MDZ & Zaitsev to fight over not to mention if & when they want to start giving Thomson & JBD more games in Ottawa. I think we also except that DJ likes Zaitsev & most likely he could start next season. I think they start next season with this defensive group with MDZ & Brannstrom as extras unless something is done in the off season to move some players to make room. I think they want Hamonic with Chabot to kind of protect him given he will drop the gloves & has good size.

Chabot - Hamonic
Sanderson - Zub
Holden - Zaitsev
- MDZ/Brannstrom/Thomson/JBD

 

[PlayOn]

Brannstrom is 22 and still improving. Stop talking about him as if he was a 27 year-old who's already hit his ceiling. (That goes for half the posts in this thread)

I never said anything remotely like that. It goes without saying that no 22 year old dman has peaked. He has been okay and I’m sure he’ll get better. I don’t really see what makes him a significantly better option than Thomson to this point, as he hasn’t exactly done anything super notable at the NHL level - neither of them have. If they’re both on the roster next year, you play the guy who helps you win more games whoever that is. But if you’re choosing between them I think there’s a legitimate argument that Thomson is more valuable. Better skater, better defensively, better gap control, better shot and yes better size which does often matter, especially on the backend. Brannstrom is more skilled, but I don’t think he will be the better NHL dman in 5 years. Obviously that’s my opinion, but I really don’t know where I suggested Brannstrom is done developing.

 

[Sweatred]

I never said anything remotely like that. It goes without saying that no 22 year old dman has peaked. He has been okay and I’m sure he’ll get better. I don’t really see what makes him a significantly better option than Thomson to this point, as he hasn’t exactly done anything super notable at the NHL level - neither of them have. If they’re both on the roster next year, you play the guy who helps you win more games whoever that is. But if you’re choosing between them I think there’s a legitimate argument that Thomson is more valuable. Better skater, better defensively, better gap control, better shot and yes better size which does often matter, especially on the backend. Brannstrom is more skilled, but I don’t think he will be the better NHL dman in 5 years. Obviously that’s my opinion, but I really don’t know where I suggested Brannstrom is done developing.

There is room in our best lineup for Lassi and Brann.

Chabot Lassi
Brann Zub
Sanderson Hamonic

I’m bullish on Lassi and I think he can play with Chabot at some point next year. If he doesn’t flip him down but I don’t think we want a rookie integrating a rookie.

Either way, Chabot will play with a few RD’s.

 

[Answer]

It's weird for sure. How anyone can write off a 22 year old as a finished product is baffling.

And for the lack of offense goes he's had some bad puck luck. Could easily have an extra 2-4 goals and 4-5 assists or so. But he doesn't.

He had better puck lack last year. 13 points in 30 games. Really nice production.

His stat line the last two years combined is: 81 GP 2 G 25 A 27 P 53 PIM +/- -13. That's a full season on a bottom feeding team.

That is pretty decent for a 21/22 year old D breaking into the league.

Brannstrom's production will suffer, as long as he plays in Ottawa, due to the fact, he won't be getting that extra boost from Powerplay because he won't be seeing himself on the first unit with Chabot, and probably even Sanderson ahead of him

 

[PlayOn]

There is room in our best lineup for Lassi and Brann.

Chabot Lassi
Brann Zub
Sanderson Hamonic

I’m bullish on Lassi and I think he can play with Chabot at some point next year. If he doesn’t flip him down but I don’t think we want a rookie integrating a rookie.

Either way, Chabot will play with a few RD’s.

Don’t think Brann is playing over Holden to be honest with you. And I also think if you look past next year, the plan is likely to replace Hamonic with JBD. I don’t see a world in which our D core consists of 6 players who have zero playoff experience between them, including three with less than 100 games. The reality of our roster right now is that our forward group is ahead of our defensive group and we’re probably going to need to do a few things to move things along.

So on that note, I think it is a legitimate question to ask whether Brannstrom truly has a future on this team, and whether it’s not wiser to give the PK, PP and even strength minutes to players like Sanderson and Thomson so they develop quickly. It’s not always as simple as “he’s 22!! He will get better”… sure, every player is 22 at some point. You have to make difficult choices, they’re not all going to work out.

 

[OccidentalSoothsayer]

Hopefully he can get rid of that goose egg in the goal column before the year is out. I'd imagine he must be losing sleep over it

 

[L'Aveuglette]

Dean Brown: "What is Brannstrom?"

Oh I dunno Dean, a 22 YEAR OLD kid who managed to play top-4 minutes when Chabot went down and our record actually improved?

Maybe he doesn't need to be labeled "offensive dman" or "shutdown dman" to make his place here y'know. Maybe he can just be a good all-around guy who can also play on the PP and PK. Zub is 4 years older and does the same things yet he's seen as essential because what, he's bigger? Well hey, we've got two of those guys now, so maybe it's a good idea to keep that depth on a defense that had anything but for the last 5 years. Maybe, just maybe, Branny can still improve like most dmen do in their early 20s and actually become better offensively and along with Sanderson coming in, give us one of the better defensive squad in the league if PD gets off his ass and gets Chabot his own Methot?

f***ing galaxy brain Dean with no imagination whatsoever.

 

[Sweatred]

Dean Brown: "What is Brannstrom?"

Oh I dunno Dean, a 22 YEAR OLD kid who managed to play top-4 minutes when Chabot went down and our record actually improved?

Maybe he doesn't need to be labeled "offensive dman" or "shutdown dman" to make his place here y'know. Maybe he can just be a good all-around guy who can also play on the PP and PK. Zub is 4 years older and does the same things yet he's seen as essential because what, he's bigger? Well hey, we've got two of those guys now, so maybe it's a good idea to keep that depth on a defense that had anything but for the last 5 years. Maybe, just maybe, Branny can still improve like most dmen do in their early 20s and actually become better offensively and along with Sanderson coming in, give us one of the better defensive squad in the league if PD gets off his ass and gets Chabot his own Methot?

f***ing galaxy brain Dean with no imagination whatsoever.

The only thing Dean knows that he is that he is right about is that he likes the sound of his own voice….

 

[Sens With Benefits]

The only thing Dean knows that he is that he is right about is that he likes the sound of his own voice….

It's honestly got worse with age. Especially on the radio, he just goes on tangents that aren't very funny. At least on TV you're watching.

 

[GCK]

I don't know what's the future for EB, here or elsewhere but on thing i will never understand and call stupid is guys here who kept saying again again and again that Brann is soft, he is really not. And he need to be tough with his size.

Brannstrom is a tough kid, I think when people call him soft it’s referring to him being easy to play against. But for sure he is tough.

 

[Icelevel]

Been playing big minutes and doing alright. Time to trade him.

Thomson and Sanderson come on down(up).

 

[SensFactor]

I think Sens are going to try and draft a RW or RD in the top 10 selection. If RD, then Brannstrom is as good as gone.

 

[Mark Stones Spleen]

Dj absolutely right here.

Brannstrom confirmed healthy scratch to start next year

 

[Sweatred]

It's honestly got worse with age. Especially on the radio, he just goes on tangents that aren't very funny. At least on TV you're watching.

I have a lot of patience for anyone who talks hockey on TSN 1200… but I turn his segments off.

 

[Senovision]

Been playing big minutes and doing alright. Time to trade him.

Thomson and Sanderson come on down(up).

My guess is we would get a 3rd or 4th round pick for him.

 

[Bileur]

There's no depth that'll be good enough if Hamonic is on our first pair. This 100% needs to be addressed in the off-season.

I agree. If they really want to make a run at the playoffs next year, particularly in their division the D needs to look like this:

Chabot-XXX
Brannstrom-Zub
Sanderson-Hamonic
Holden

I’d hope to see Brannstrom and Sanderson swapping by the end of the year due to Sanderson’s development.

Would you trade Branny and Sokolov back for Stone and his 5x $9.5 w/ NMC?

I think I would. If healthy Stone would be a great linemate for Stutzle.

defensemen take time to develop. The same could happen to Sanderson.

That’s a part I don’t understand about people locking in Sanderson over Brannstrom on the second PP in particular. Sanderson has some great tools but Brannstrom was producing very well at the AHL level and has still faced adjustment. It would be way better to have both as insurance.

There is room in our best lineup for Lassi and Brann.

Chabot Lassi
Brann Zub
Sanderson Hamonic

I’m bullish on Lassi and I think he can play with Chabot at some point next year. If he doesn’t flip him down but I don’t think we want a rookie integrating a rookie.

Either way, Chabot will play with a few RD’s.

What a boon it would be for the team for Lassi (or JBD) to have a massive summer and take a huge leap forward like we’ve seen recently from guys like Norris, Batherson and Stutzle.

If one of them can legitimately earn that spot in camp over Zub, Hamonic, Holden etc. in spite of contract/waiver status the Sens would be in for a huge season.

 

[Icelevel]

My guess is we would get a 3rd or 4th round pick for him.

My guess he’ll be packaged up with another player/pick for something that fits better.
Partly for his benefit too. He could probably use a fresh start somewhere else and our organization usually likes to accommodate players like that when possible.