Player Discussion Erik Brännström - D - Part III

GCK · Friday at 9:51 AM

Cosmix said:
I suspect we MIGHT have offered him about $1M AAV for a year or two; he probably felt he could do better elsewhere. I am not hugely disappointed that he is gone; however, I am disappointed in what we have going forward at D. Jensen is not the answer.

Who was the answer.

DueDiligence · Friday at 9:53 AM

Burrowsaurus said:
He did always play well when someone in the top 4 went down tho. Thats really the only concern I have

Brannstrom didn't always play well in any situation. To his credit he did not make glaring mistakes but he was routinely out-muscled by bigger and stronger guys even when he was in good position. And those failures lead to many chances against and goals. That's something that can never be corrected.

Tuna99 · Friday at 9:54 AM

DueDiligence said:
Brannstrom didn't always play well in any situation. To his credit he did not make glaring mistakes but he was routinely out-muscled by bigger and stronger guys even when he was in good position. And those failures lead to many chances against and goals. That's something that can never be corrected.

He isn’t the D you want first in the corner, he didn’t have the speed or escapability to skate up the middle it always had to be the center of the ice, and the way the NHL is going he’s way to small.

DueDiligence · Friday at 9:57 AM

Cosmix said:
I suspect we MIGHT have offered him about $1M AAV for a year or two; he probably felt he could do better elsewhere. I am not hugely disappointed that he is gone; however, I am disappointed in what we have going forward at D. Jensen is not the answer.

Jensen will be a good partner for either Chabot or Sandy depending where Zub plays. The bottom line is that TC will end up with someone far better than Chychrun was last year to help him get his game back on track. If Chabot rebounds the Sens will be a far better team for it.

Micklebot · Friday at 10:18 AM

bicboi64 said:
Although I agree with the overall sentiment of your point, it doesn't make sense to include Kleven as a reason our PK will improve. The dude played 9 games last season and it's not like he's a highly touted guy like Sandy, Greig, etc... that can be relied on to break out. We don't know how he'll perform yet relative to Brannstrom. We currently had a 3rd pairing with no consistently serviceable D. Brannstrom is better than JBD and Hamonic. We're banking on Jensen and rookies/sophomores to step up for our PK.

I've been pretty high on Kleven since we drafted him, so I've pretty confident in his ability to step in. I remember having similar conversations about whether Sanderson would be able to step in immediately as a top 4 Dman, I have about as little doubt that Kleven can step in as a bottom pair guy. Having said that, I would prefer if we had a more reliable partner for him than JBD, but it is what it is.

Jensen is a proven vet, he was on Washington's top PK unit so I don't see it as a big ask for him to replace what Brannstrom did and then some.

Our D pairings on the PK last year looked like this:
PK 1 Sanderson-Zub
PK 2 Brannstrom-JBD
extra: Chabot

This year, it will be this:
PK 1 Sanderson-Zub
PK 2 Kleven-Jensen
extra JBD

Which would you prefer? to me, the answer is a resounding this year.

bicboi64 · Friday at 12:52 PM

Micklebot said:
I've been pretty high on Kleven since we drafted him, so I've pretty confident in his ability to step in. I remember having similar conversations about whether Sanderson would be able to step in immediately as a top 4 Dman, I have about as little doubt that Kleven can step in as a bottom pair guy. Having said that, I would prefer if we had a more reliable partner for him than JBD, but it is what it is.

Jensen is a proven vet, he was on Washington's top PK unit so I don't see it as a big ask for him to replace what Brannstrom did and then some.

Our D pairings on the PK last year looked like this:
PK 1 Sanderson-Zub
PK 2 Brannstrom-JBD
extra: Chabot

This year, it will be this:
PK 1 Sanderson-Zub
PK 2 Kleven-Jensen
extra JBD

Which would you prefer? to me, the answer is a resounding this year.

I remember that convo with you about Sandy, and am happy to eat crow and hope I have to eat some more if Kleven doesn't struggle this year.

I'll be honest with you, the PK2's are both too similar for me to choose one. Brannstrom and JBD might be a mediocre PK2, but I know what I'm getting. Jensen is a beast, but Kleven being an unknown makes it difficult for me to want to take a gamble and I just hope we have enough defensive forwards in place to help him transition to playing an effective role on the PK (which is where my slight frustration comes when we don't have a Joseph there, but might be playing someone slower like Gregor).

Micklebot · Friday at 1:10 PM

bicboi64 said:
I remember that convo with you about Sandy, and am happy to eat crow and hope I have to eat some more if Kleven doesn't struggle this year.

I'll be honest with you, the PK2's are both too similar for me to choose one. Brannstrom and JBD might be a mediocre PK2, but I know what I'm getting. Jensen is a beast, but Kleven being an unknown makes it difficult for me to want to take a gamble and I just hope we have enough defensive forwards in place to help him transition to playing an effective role on the PK (which is where my slight frustration comes when we don't have a Joseph there, but might be playing someone slower like Gregor).

Well, if Kleven struggles, you have JBD to fall back on. I don't think he'll struggle though, he's built for the PK, long stick, excellent skater, strong as an ox.

Also, I'm not sure where you get the idea Gregor is slower... he's a speedster

bicboi64 · Friday at 1:13 PM

Micklebot said:
Also, I'm not sure where you get the idea Gregor is slower... he's a speedster

Relative to Joseph

GCK · Friday at 2:54 PM

bicboi64 said:
I remember that convo with you about Sandy, and am happy to eat crow and hope I have to eat some more if Kleven doesn't struggle this year.

I'll be honest with you, the PK2's are both too similar for me to choose one. Brannstrom and JBD might be a mediocre PK2, but I know what I'm getting. Jensen is a beast, but Kleven being an unknown makes it difficult for me to want to take a gamble and I just hope we have enough defensive forwards in place to help him transition to playing an effective role on the PK (which is where my slight frustration comes when we don't have a Joseph there, but might be playing someone slower like Gregor).

Gregor is very fast, not slower than Joseph

Golden_Jet · Friday at 3:08 PM

bicboi64 said:
Relative to Joseph

I’ll have to check NHL edge website when I get time to find their speed numbers

Micklebot · Friday at 3:10 PM

bicboi64 said:
Relative to Joseph

At worst I'd say they are on par, but imo Gregor is a touch faster

Honestly, while Joseph is very quick and fairly fast, I do find his speed has been a bit exaggerated since he got here.

Burrowsaurus · Friday at 3:21 PM

Ice-Tray said:
And yet he couldn’t score, or help score, and we still couldn’t win.

We needed to change out the periphery guys to try and change the make up of the team, and we have done that. We have moved them all out.

Not saying he should have or shouldn’t have been kept. He just played well when someone in the top 4 got injured. We went from losing to just losing again lol. Except three seasons ago he was actually great with zub and we went like 12-5-1.

Kleven we don’t know if he can even be a serviceable 3rd pairing guy.

And mystery 6th d we don’t know either

Micklebot said:
At worst I'd say they are on par, but imo Gregor is a touch faster

Honestly, while Joseph is very quick and fairly fast, I do find his speed has been a bit exaggerated since he got here.

Straight ahead there’s like 5 people that can beat him.

One is formenton.

Micklebot · Friday at 3:31 PM

Burrowsaurus said:
Straight ahead there’s like 5 people that can beat him.

One is formenton.

Who, Joseph or Gregor?

Burrowsaurus · Friday at 3:36 PM

Micklebot said:
Who, Joseph or Gregor?

Joseph. Why are we pretending he’s not one of the fastest players in the NHL all of a sudden

Micklebot · Friday at 3:47 PM

Burrowsaurus said:
Joseph. Why are we pretending he’s not one of the fastest players in the NHL all of a sudden

I think he quick of the launch which gets him that initial separation but he isn't one of the fastest once he gets going. That belief is supported by the data the NHL tracks,

That's also why when the sens do their fastest skater comps in the skill comp, it's guys like Norris and Kastelic winning not Joseph.

Agent Zub · Friday at 4:01 PM

Even if Gregor is faster, from what I've watched Joseph is is much better at actually using his speed.

Creating separation really is the biggest differentiator in game.

Loach · Friday at 4:25 PM

Agent Zub said:
Even if Gregor is faster, from what I've watched Joseph is is much better at actually using his speed.

Creating separation really is the biggest differentiator in game.

Joseph, Karlsson and Branny? Is that right? What we get to hear now.

The Expert · Friday at 4:28 PM

Biggest loss since Rudolfs Balcers.

Golden_Jet · Friday at 4:40 PM

Burrowsaurus said:
Joseph. Why are we pretending he’s not one of the fastest players in the NHL all of a sudden

FYI for those asking, looks like Timmy had the highest top speed over the year, then Sandy, then Joe, then Chabby then Gregor,
Chabby .03 mph slower than Joe, so very close.

Joseph last year