Prospect Info: Gianni Fairbrother a.k.a. Giovanni Fairbrudder

[26Mats]

Thoughts on Fairbrother? At least he got signed and will play in Laval. We definitely have to develop more defenceman. The clock is ticking.

seems like a good prospect from everything I've seen and read...

yeah, we lost Juulsen to injury, and Fleury would have benefited from being brought along more slowly and the expansion draft. Mete looks like he won't pan out.

3 down. Still 7 good ones to go (Romanov, Guhle, Harris, Strubble, Norlinder, Fairbrother, Brook). If 3 of these guys are top 4, we should be in fantastic shape moving forward. But still would be great to find that number 1 D with some offense - which is probably our biggest need in the under 25 core - heck even our under 34 core (Petry turns 34 in December).

 

[ChesterNimitz]

seems like a good prospect from everything I've seen and read...

yeah, we lost Juulsen to injury, and Fleury would have benefited from being brought along more slowly and the expansion draft. Mete looks like he won't pan out.

3 down. Still 7 good ones to go (Romanov, Guhle, Harris, Strubble, Norlinder, Fairbrother, Brook). If 3 of these guys are top 4, we should be in fantastic shape moving forward. But still would be great to find that number 1 D with some offense - which is probably our biggest need in the under 25 core - heck even our under 34 core (Petry turns 34 in December).

Fairbrother is a much better prospect than Juulsen.

 

[Tyson]

The one young player folks rarely discuss. While he only played 3 AHL games this past season he looked poised and ready.

6'1 209 and can also drop the mitts. Good potential

 

[26Mats]

Fairbrother is a much better prospect than Juulsen.

sounds good!

I'll wait until I see more of him in Laval to judge that.

he's kind of a mix of Juulsen, Fleury. Tough, solid in his own end, good PKer, physical, good shot.

i've got several clips up of his games this year,

https://www.youtube.com/user/harryhood1919/videos

 

[WinterLion]

Between the 9:30 mark and the 10:30 mark.

You see Churla letting MB know what they got in Fairbrother.

Nice. They really liked Fairbrother... great pick. He was impressive last season, no doubt. This kid is often not mentioned, but could end up being a player. Also Bergevin is such a clown!!

 

[26Mats]

Nice. They really liked Fairbrother... great pick. He was impressive last season, no doubt. This kid is often not mentioned, but could end up being a player. Also Bergevin is such a clown!!

has looked really good since his first rookie camp right after the draft.

 

[montreal]

Thoughts on Fairbrother? At least he got signed and will play in Laval. We definitely have to develop more defenceman. The clock is ticking.

I like him a lot, can't wait to see him in a full AHL season since he's missed so much development time to injury. Plays a hard nosed game, but a solid 2 way player. I think he can be a 3rd pairing D down the road for us if he keeps progressing.

Fairbrother is a much better prospect than Juulsen.

I hope so but at the same age Juulsen was in the NHL (though he shouldn't have been, another development mistake from MB imo), and Team Canada doesn't agree as Juulsen played in the WJC's and World Junior A Challenge, Fairbrother has never appeared in any international games. I like Fairbrother a lot but I also liked Juulsen a good bit outside of his poor mobility/skating. I think they are close but it's tougher to say how good Fairbother really is as he's missed so much time. If you compare them, Juulsen has 240 regular season games in the WHL whereas Fairbrother even playing as an overager has just 160 over 5 years though covid impacted that number. They seem to have similar offensive games, as both were at a .52 ppg in the WHL, both play a solid physical game and defensive as well though I really liked Juulsen's defensive game at least at the AHL level as I don't always get to see a lot of the WHL.

 

[Schwang]

Fairbrother looked very poised in the limited time I saw him in Laval. Not sure what he can become though, but he certainly didn't look out of place.

 

[ChesterNimitz]

I like him a lot, can't wait to see him in a full AHL season since he's missed so much development time to injury. Plays a hard nosed game, but a solid 2 way player. I think he can be a 3rd pairing D down the road for us if he keeps progressing.



I hope so but at the same age Juulsen was in the NHL (though he shouldn't have been, another development mistake from MB imo), and Team Canada doesn't agree as Juulsen played in the WJC's and World Junior A Challenge, Fairbrother has never appeared in any international games. I like Fairbrother a lot but I also liked Juulsen a good bit outside of his poor mobility/skating. I think they are close but it's tougher to say how good Fairbother really is as he's missed so much time. If you compare them, Juulsen has 240 regular season games in the WHL whereas Fairbrother even playing as an overager has just 160 over 5 years though covid impacted that number. They seem to have similar offensive games, as both were at a .52 ppg in the WHL, both play a solid physical game and defensive as well though I really liked Juulsen's defensive game at least at the AHL level as I don't always get to see a lot of the WHL.

The first time I saw Juulsen, my initial assessment was that he would never be more than a fringe NHLer. Nothing he has accomplished since has shaken that first impression. I was shocked that any player with such a limited lateral skating ability could have been selected in the first round. I don't know what our scouts were looking at. Contrarily, the first time I watched Fairbrother I was impressed with his poise, vision and skating ability. While he will never be a first pairing defenceman, Fairbrother should, if he has a modest developmental trajectory, be a solid NHLer. His brief play in the AHL only re-enforced my initial, favorable assessment.

 

[montreal]

The first time I saw Juulsen, my initial assessment was that he would never be more than a fringe NHLer. Nothing he has accomplished since has shaken that first impression. I was shocked that any player with such a limited lateral skating ability could have been selected in the first round. I don't know what our scouts were looking at. Contrarily, the first time I watched Fairbrother I was impressed with his poise, vision and skating ability. While he will never be a first pairing defenceman, Fairbrother should, if he has a modest developmental trajectory, be a solid NHLer. His brief play in the AHL only re-enforced my initial, favorable assessment.

Juulsen appears to have worked on his skating, but even with that he still should be able to be a solid 3rd pairing D, so the same for Fairbrother who is clearly the better skater.

 

[ChesterNimitz]

Juulsen appears to have worked on his skating, but even with that he still should be able to be a solid 3rd pairing D, so the same for Fairbrother who is clearly the better skater.

While it is possible for a player in his late teens and early twenties to improve his straightforward speed and first step quickness, trying to improve a player's lateral skating ability which involves issues of balance and core athleticism, is a much more difficult result to obtain. The fact that Florida exposed Juulsen in the expansion draft is damning confirmation as to their doubts and beliefs regarding Juulsen's ability to achieve that improvement. Without that improvement, Juulsen will remain what he currently is: a journeyman.

 

[VirginiaMtlExpat]

I like a player with this kind of combination of toughness and playing ability. I felt that he was kind of redundant when he was picked, given the number of defensemen taken that draft, but his play has made me change my mind.

 

[26Mats]

Can he become a homegrown Edmundson/Chiarot/Savard type stay at home D with size??

 

[CheldishGamibno]

Can he become a homegrown Edmundson/Chiarot/Savard type stay at home D with size??

More mobile than Chiarot that's for sure! A mobile, physical dman with a great first pass is quite rare these days, excited to see him develop in Laval.

 

[KevSkillz4]

He play good yesterday?

 

[Tyson]

He play good yesterday?

He actually held his own very well

 

[montreal]

Can he become a homegrown Edmundson/Chiarot/Savard type stay at home D with size??

yes

 

[KevSkillz4]

He actually held his own very well

Nice, he looks very underrated, I like his passing ability.

 

[Tyson]

Nice, he looks very underrated, I like his passing ability.

He has some impressive pugilistic skills.

 

[WeThreeKings]

He's going to be in the next round of cuts, needs more polish.

 

[Beendair Donedat]

Really like this kid and the style he plays. Not a bit afraid to play a mean, physical style while still moving the puck well. Hope he’s able to make it to the show as a regular, I’ll be cheering for him. Great name too!

 

[Habs Halifax]

I like what I saw with Fairbrother against the Leafs. He's clever and good in the intangible areas. Reminds me of a Josh Gorges type. Gets his body in the way and has good awareness of what to do with the puck when he gets it.

 

[Habs Halifax]

He has some impressive pugilistic skills.

Modern day version of Josh Gorges?

 

[Tyson]

Modern day version of Josh Gorges?

You shall see

 

[Adam Michaels]

He's going to be in the next round of cuts, needs more polish.

Apparently, Laval will start their camp on the 30th (Thursday). So he may be cut before then to join the Laval Rocket camp.

But I could also see them keep him for one more preseason game.

Ducharme had said that he would like to use 4 preseason games to evaluate certain players. And the final 2 preseason games to be pretty much his opening night roster. Which is why I think he might be one of the few who gets an extra game before being cut.