Waived: Erik Brannstrom placed on waivers

[ProviesGhost]

If you're not 6'-6", 240 pounds, fast as a pylon -> GTFO

Tocchet's demise, eventually, maybe his lust for these kind of defensemen

 

[VanJack]

Tells one of three things......either they really want to get a look at their newly minted AHL all-star, Elias Pettersson II; Hronek is a lot closer to a return than is being reported; or they're convinced that Wilander will be signed and in their lineup sometime in March.

Clearly Tocchet has lost total faith in Brannstrom.....I guess there were things on the ice that we just didn't see. But whenever he was given time and space, he could at least move the puck and get it out of his own zone--something their current blueline is mostly hopeless at.

But I guess that's the book on Brannstrom. He plays decently in stretches of games, but then falls off a cliff.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

If you're not 6'-6", 240 pounds, fast as a pylon -> GTFO

Tocchet's demise, eventually, maybe his lust for these kind of defensemen

ah, but imagine the fantasyland inside his head where forbort is brad marsh and desharnais is kjell samuelsson….

 

[SeawaterOnIce]

I would love to see how conversations between management and the coaching staff go in these situations.

Rick: "We want big physical defensemen and forwards that are gritty."

Allvin: "Ok so we brought in an undersized soft defenseman and a forward who doesn't care to play defense (Sprong). Give them a chance...."

Rick: "Uhhh ok sure."

I could tell you in October this wasn't gonna work out because Tocchet hates these guys. Why bother even bringing them in? How do we know better than Allvin? We should have just signed Philippe Myers....

 

[racerjoe]

I would love to see how conversations between management and the coaching staff go in these situations.

Rick: "We want big physical defensemen and forwards that are gritty."

Allvin: "Ok so we brought in an undersized soft defenseman and a forward who doesn't care to play defense (Sprong). Give them a chance...."

Rick: "Uhhh ok sure."

I could tell you in October this wasn't gonna work out because Tocchet hates these guys. Why bother even bringing them in? How do we know better than Allvin? We should have just signed Philippe Myers....

I don’t think we brought Brannstrom in expecting him to be NHL player… he just happens to have the one skill set we don’t have on defense.

 

[MS]

Defensive depth and puck-moving are for losers!!

Problem is that he hasn't been able to move the puck effectively while at the same time he was getting absolutely caved defensively in the last 10-15 games he played.

 

[God]

Ty Smith cleared yesterday so maybe they think Brannstrom will probably clear too

 

[beachcomber]

Problem is that he hasn't been able to move the puck effectively while at the same time he was getting absolutely caved defensively in the last 10-15 games he played.

Generally, he just isn't very good. Willy is going to be plunked in the roster down the road plus there will likely be a trade so Brannstrom is definitely expendable at this point.

 

[lawrence]

If you're not 6'-6", 240 pounds, fast as a pylon -> GTFO

Tocchet's demise, eventually, maybe his lust for these kind of defensemen

I was joking earlier about how, if you're 6'4 and can skate, one can be employed as a Canuck dman.

 

[TruGr1t]

Overall you are right, but he has done it a few times this season. I am just showing it doesn’t have to be as it isn’t always.

The fact of the matter is, you need some of what Branstrom brings on the backend. He is a very limited player, and if this was last years team, he would.d have probably been the first guy I would waive easily… but this you need what he has, cause NO OTHER DMAN on the team does it… besides Hughes.

I don't disagree, but this coaching staff obviously has a prototypical defenseman, and they will always default to the guy that is the closest to what they want. I don't think Brannstrom is necessarily good enough to worry about, though.

 

[theguardianII]

I was joking earlier about how, if you're 6'4 and can skate, one can be employed as a Canuck dman.

In 1993 when we selected the WJC team one thing was said, "if they duck to come into the room, we can teach them to skate"
True back then and now with just about every Stanley Cup winner in history, well back to the early 60's.
Remember though, waaay back, 6'2" was massive. Peter Mahovlich at 6'5" was the tallest man in the game and Larry Robinson at 6'4" one of the biggest dmen in the league.
Now 6'2.5" is considered average for dmen
Large dmen last though the grind of the playoffs better.
Hughes and some smaller guys are not traditional dmen, they are more throw backs to being rover's, sort of like skilled forwards with no set role except to be creative. Like a center.

A danger for this team is that every other team in the league knows, "take out Hughes" and the Canucks struggle to win. The system relies too much on his play and his play makes all the other dmen look like they are "wanting", not as good as they really are. That said the D lacks mobility but the system also limits them too. The fear of being benched for mistakes or even demoted to the farm so less risk taking.

Apart from size just to point out, he is also a Euro trained player, another one bites the dust.

 

[Curm]

Some folks appear pretty upset by this, it's like they waived Alex Biega.

 

[Rick Rocket]

Some folks appear pretty upset by this, it's like they waived Alex Biega.

because more Juulsen...

unless Hronek is that close

 

[Curm]

because more Juulsen...

unless Hronek is that close

Juulsen isn't particularly good but RH vs LH, Juulsen plays the PK and the Canucks are actually 12th in the league there so far, and he also starts in the DZ 69% of the time at ES vs Brannstrom at 33.5%.

I like Brannstrom, but they need 2 LHD to regularly play the PK, or they're playing a RHD on his offside, or it's Hughes. Brisebois took his job.

 

[Leif Rohlin]

I was joking earlier about how, if you're 6'4 and can skate, one can be employed as a Canuck dman.

If you're 6'7" and can't skate at all you're still in the mix.

 

[lawrence]

If you're 6'7" and can't skate at all you're still in the mix.

no joke. One of my beer leauge (now former) beer leauge teamates is 6'11 I kid you not. good times.

 

[Bleach Clean]

Overall you are right, but he has done it a few times this season. I am just showing it doesn’t have to be as it isn’t always.

The fact of the matter is, you need some of what Branstrom brings on the backend. He is a very limited player, and if this was last years team, he would.d have probably been the first guy I would waive easily… but this you need what he has, cause NO OTHER DMAN on the team does it… besides Hughes.

Tocchet doesn't believe you need what Brannstrom brings beyond what Hughes already does.

At the margins, it's the correct strategy to demote/waive him. He introduces uncertainty in a very static system. The forwards come low to support and skate the puck up. The Dmen make the short pass in zone. Down low, they "protect the house". Are very focused on breaking cycles and far less focused on breaking out. Once in the Ozone, a point shot is all that is required. This is not a system conducive to a variable puck rusher looking to make stretch passes. (Unless you do it at a high level and have the defense be at least even)

Now, if you had multiple PMDs (even low end ones like Brannstrom) and forwards were directed to rush, then a stretch passer with Ozone creativity would take advantage of unset defenses. You may even improve upon being dead last in rush chances and xGF...

But Tocchet has chosen his course.

 

[Jyrki21]

Problem is that he hasn't been able to move the puck effectively while at the same time he was getting absolutely caved defensively in the last 10-15 games he played.

Well he hasn't even played since the triassic, all while the team was garnering some pretty bad results. It just seems hard to justify sticking with the status quo while the team was struggling to move the puck (and offense = defense at the end of the day – both involve moving the puck away from your net toward the other one). I know you don't like these comparisons in the abstract, but the numbers do suggest he was a better option for the element the back end was sorely missing.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

In 1993 when we selected the WJC team one thing was said, "if they duck to come into the room, we can teach them to skate"

i remember that team

we had two guys on that team, aucoin (6’2) and brent tully (6’3). i misremembered jassen cullimore (6’5) also being there but i just looked it up and he’d graduated to hamilton (our farm team). he was on the ’92 wjc team and was pronger’s former partner in peterborough. who knew of cullimore, tully, and aucoin it would be aucoin who would go on to far and away the best career?

but i digress. a lot of trees on that 93 wjc team. pronger (6’6), mike rathje (6’5), jason smith (6’3), all very big boys. the other two guys on the roster, joel bouchard and darcy werenka, were “only” 6’1.

 

[bossram]

Tocc hates Brannstrom and guys that Tocc hates get gone. That's how it is.

I strongly disagree. Brannstrom is a better player than other guys they're playing and has a needed skillset. But this was the predictable ending. I guess we can look forward to more Sbisa-esque pizzas from Juulsen and chasing hits way out of position.

Tocc admitted it himself. He wants to play as low-event hockey as possible, and just hope to win the bounces. It's an effective strategy to have a decent floor, but offers no shot of being a contender.

 

[PuckMunchkin]

Juulsen isn't particularly good but RH vs LH, Juulsen plays the PK and the Canucks are actually 12th in the league there so far, and he also starts in the DZ 69% of the time at ES vs Brannstrom at 33.5%.

I like Brannstrom, but they need 2 LHD to regularly play the PK, or they're playing a RHD on his offside, or it's Hughes. Brisebois took his job.

I think they need to move the puck out of their own end.

 

[FrankieC]

Well he hasn't even played since the triassic, all while the team was garnering some pretty bad results. It just seems hard to justify sticking with the status quo while the team was struggling to move the puck (and offense = defense at the end of the day – both involve moving the puck away from your net toward the other one). I know you don't like these comparisons in the abstract, but the numbers do suggest he was a better option for the element the back end was sorely missing.

The fact is to management, it doesn't matter what his analytics or his play was like, the fact that he's under 6ft is what got him waived. If he wasn't ,his play and his underlying numbers would keep him in the league.

 

[604]

If you're not 6'-6", 240 pounds, fast as a pylon -> GTFO

Tocchet's demise, eventually, maybe his lust for these kind of defensemen

I know people love writing this but didn’t we just keep very normal sized, 6’2” Brisebois over Brannstrom?

 

[Rick Rocket]

Juulsen wipes out so many times per game. I think we need to make a counter for that and other hilarious screwups we love so much

 

[racerjoe]

Tocchet doesn't believe you need what Brannstrom brings beyond what Hughes already does.

At the margins, it's the correct strategy to demote/waive him. He introduces uncertainty in a very static system. The forwards come low to support and skate the puck up. The Dmen make the short pass in zone. Down low, they "protect the house". Are very focused on breaking cycles and far less focused on breaking out. Once in the Ozone, a point shot is all that is required. This is not a system conducive to a variable puck rusher looking to make stretch passes. (Unless you do it at a high level and have the defense be at least even)

Now, if you had multiple PMDs (even low end ones like Brannstrom) and forwards were directed to rush, then a stretch passer with Ozone creativity would take advantage of unset defenses. You may even improve upon being dead last in rush chances and xGF...

But Tocchet has chosen his course.

Except our forwards don’t come low often enough. Last game if Hughes didn’t have the puck it was Pettersson breaking out of the zone. The game before that, it was no one, and in Montreal it was JT Miller breaking it out himself.

Our system is based on making plays our defenders just can’t do, and they chip it out of the glass and we turn it over or try to dump and chase and hardly ever have the speed to forecheck and come up with the puck.