F Leo Braillard - Lethbridge Hurricanes, WHL (2023 undrafted)

[Hinterland]

Scored 5 points in back to back games this weekend. Now sits at 16 points in 11 WHL games. He led Lethbridge's 3rd period comeback in Vancouver on the 2nd night of the back to back with an unassisted goal and an assist. His goal was particularly impressive as he won a board battle, walked into the slot and fired a shot top corner. Okay, he won that board battle vs a smallish 07 born kid. However, it's still good to see Braillard score off of what's not necessarily a strength of his.

 

[pgfan66]

Scored 5 points in back to back games this weekend. Now sits at 16 points in 11 WHL games. He led Lethbridge's 3rd period comeback in Vancouver on the 2nd night of the back to back with an unassisted goal and an assist. His goal was particularly impressive as he won a board battle, walked into the slot and fired a shot top corner. Okay, he won that board battle vs a smallish 07 born kid. However, it's still good to see Braillard score off of what's not necessarily a strength of his.

I’m still not sure why Shawinigan let him go. He’s a very good import and young enough to stay at least another year.

 

[Hinterland]

I’m still not sure why Shawinigan let him go. He’s a very good import and young enough to stay at least another year.

Yeah. Braillard is currently clearly outscoring Barbashev and he wouldn't even need to outplay Barbashev because he's two years younger and keeping him over Barbashev would have allowed Shawinigan to dress an extra overager. I understand that you can't compare scoring 1:1 but the decision to let Braillard go just doesn't make sense. Either you wanna win or you want a young team that's gonna be around for as many years as possible. In both cases it makes sense to keep Braillard.

Either something happened that we're not aware of or this was a stupid decision. At least among his teammates Braillard was popular though from what I heard.

Good for Lethbridge though. They were down lots of regulars this month, especially upfront. They're back now but Marques would have had nobody to play with for several games if it wasn't for Braillard. It was certainly a timely pickup by Lethbridge.

 

[pgfan66]

Yeah. Braillard is currently clearly outscoring Barbashev and he wouldn't even need to outplay Barbashev because he's two years younger and keeping him over Barbashev would have allowed Shawinigan to dress an extra overager. I understand that you can't compare scoring 1:1 but the decision to let Braillard go just doesn't make sense. Either you wanna win or you want a young team that's gonna be around for as many years as possible. In both cases it makes sense to keep Braillard.

Either something must happened that we're not aware of or this was a stupid decision. At least among his teammates Braillard was popular though from what I heard.

Good for Lethbridge though. They were down lots of regulars this month, especially upfront. They're back now but Marques would have had nobody to play with for several games if it wasn't for Braillard. It was certainly a timely pickup by Lethbridge.

Same here. I’ve only heard good things about him.

 

[Hinterland]

Braillard had a two point game last night. The assist was more impressive than the goal because Lethbridge scored yet another goal after a board battle won by Braillard. Seems much improved in all areas, not just scoring.

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

Two goals against Sweden the other night at the WJC - the second one a laser. Given his size and the fact he's got 12 goals but just four assists thus far for Lethridge is his game more suited to the NCAA and/or Europe?

 

[Speyer]

Two goals against Sweden the other night at the WJC - the second one a laser. Given his size and the fact he's got 12 goals but just four assists thus far for Lethridge is his game more suited to the NCAA and/or Europe?

No point in going to the NCAA just to loose out on money. Its not like he is going to make the NHL later on. He will almost certainly return to Switzerland once his junior career is up.

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

No point in going to the NCAA just to loose out on money. Its not like he is going to make the NHL later on. He will almost certainly return to Switzerland once his junior career is up.

While NIL money wouldn't be close to what he'd make in pro hockey, the prospect of earning a degree for free while playing hockey and then giving the pro game a shot would seem a decent option too.

 

[Speyer]

While NIL money wouldn't be close to what he'd make in pro hockey, the prospect of earning a degree for free while playing hockey and then giving the pro game a shot would seem a decent option too.

An American bachelors degree wont help Braillard much in the Swiss job market, especially if he plans to still play 8-10 years of pro hockey before entering. Probably a much better idea to earn money in those four years in the NL and get a degree later from a Swiss university. Tuition is about 900 bucks a semester. For many decent Jobs in Switzerland other, more specialized education paths are required anyway instead of university. So no, I dont really see any benefits of him going to the NCAA unless he wants to graduate summa cum laude from Harvard which is probably not feasible for most college athletes anyway...

 

[pgfan66]

An American bachelors degree wont help Braillard much in the Swiss job market, especially if he plans to still play 8-10 years of pro hockey before entering. Probably a much better idea to earn money in those four years in the NL and get a degree later from a Swiss university. Tuition is about 900 bucks a semester. For many decent Jobs in Switzerland other, more specialized education paths are required anyway instead of university. So no, I dont really see any benefits of him going to the NCAA unless he wants to graduate summa cum laude from Harvard which is probably not feasible for most college athletes anyway...

I don’t think the value of an American degree is as much an issue as the fact he’d be losing out on the best years his body will give him to play pro hockey. People always act like it isn’t possible to go to university (or learn a trade or whatever) in your thirties. Go play pro hockey and make money as long as you can, then start worrying about what’s next.

 

[Speyer]

I don’t think the value of an American degree is as much an issue as the fact he’d be losing out on the best years his body will give him to play pro hockey.

Not trying to knock on the American higher education system but there are some synergy issues. First of all a bacherlors degree alone won't get you anywhere on the Swiss job market. You will need (at least) a masters degree for most good jobs in your field. And because American bachelor programmes are often less specialized than European ones you might run into issues to transition seamless into a Swiss masters programme later on, depending on the major in question. Also the benefit for student athlethes of "getting a full ride" just doesn't aplly to Swiss players the same way since tuition is basically a non issue here.

People always act like it isn’t possible to go to university (or learn a trade or whatever) in your thirties. Go play pro hockey and make money as long as you can, then start worrying about what’s next.

Thats true. For some career paths starting later will be a non issue in Switzerland especially if were a pro athlete earlier on. That alone will even give you a huge edge in some fields such as physical education or becoming an agent etc.