Prospect Info: Hunter Brzustewicz: 75th Overall 2023 Draft (Kitchener) - RD

[Mr. Canucklehead]

Discuss.

EDIT:

EliteProspects Profile - Hunter Brzustewicz at eliteprospects.com

Rankings:
Ranked #53 by CONSOLIDATED RANKING
Ranked #52 by ELITEPROSPECTS.COM
Ranked #51 by FCHOCKEY
Ranked #54 by FLOHOCKEY/CHRIS PETERS
Ranked #58 by DAILY FACEOFF
Ranked #44 by THE HOCKEY NEWS
Ranked #52 by TSN/BOB McKENZIE
Ranked #66 by MCKEEN'S HOCKEY
Ranked #61 by TSN/CRAIG BUTTON
Ranked #41 by NHL CENTRAL SCOUTING (NA Skaters)
Ranked #82 by HPR/SHANE MALLOY
Ranked #48 by RECRUIT SCOUTING
Ranked #56 by DOBBERPROSPECTS
Ranked #32 by DRAFT PROSPECTS HOCKEY
Ranked #91 by SMAHT SCOUTING

Click to read more...

 

[Vector]

Hunter Brzustewicz

RD

USA

OHL

Nov 29, 2004

68

6

51

57

41 (NA)

6'0''

190lbs

Consolidated Ranking: 48
Bob McKenzie: 52
Elite Prospects: 52

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The Athletic Scouting Report (Pronman)

Brzustewicz is a dangerous player with the puck on his stick. He has great offensive sense and patience with the puck. Brzustewicz makes a lot of difficult plays through seams. He has the ability to hold pucks, let lanes develop and enough skill to execute when they do. He's a strong skater who can transport pucks up ice and with his offensive touch he can walk the line well to create chances. Defensively Brzustewicz is OK. His skating helps him make some stops, but he's not an overly physical player. There's enough to him to play games, but unless his offense is just tremendous, he may not be good enough of an all-around guy to be a legit NHL minutes defender.

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The Athletic Scouting Report (Wheeler)

Brzustewicz is a 2004 who was a star in minor hockey growing up. He spent two years at the program playing with kids from the draft class in front of him (though he missed almost all of his U17 year due to a shoulder injury), and de-committed from the University of Michigan to play in the OHL this season, where he led Kitchener’s defence in scoring. Brzustewicz is a mobile and strong kid who has worked hard to fill out his frame (the lost season helped with that), defends the rush effectively and is now getting to show that he has always had more offense to his game than his production at the program (where players like Seamus Casey and Lane Hutson were awarded greater opportunities offensively) showed last season. He walks the line well, is comfortable and patient in control of the puck in all three zones, and will take and execute on what’s given to him. He plays and reads the game very tactically — one of those players who makes the right calls with the puck pretty much whenever he has it. He’s a strong athlete who impressed in testing at the CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game.

He has become more and more active in transition. He can comfortably play his off side. His on-ice intelligence gets high grades for how methodical and poised he is. His head is always up and he’s comfortable beating the first layer of pressure even if he’s not a dynamic creator past that. There’s a lot to like. He projects as an effective No. 3-5 defenceman at the next level.

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Elite Prospects Scouting Report

Hunter Brzustewicz, or “Brue” as he sometimes introduces himself, was the subject of many fierce debates within our ranks.

One of our scouts was impressed by his puck-moving game early in the season and continued to see him as one of the best transition forces in this draft, a great option for an NHL team wanting to add some pace to their game.

“Again, great puck-moving habits,” Elite Prospects lead scout David St-Louis wrote in a March report. “Brzustewicz can really evade opponents with incredibly tight turns and spins and lateral steps. And he tries to deceive on every pass. And he’s always activating. The transition part of the game, he’s got it. He just needs to perfect his reads under pressure."

Brzustewicz can constantly make forecheckers miss with fake changes of direction, timely spins, and by moving the puck before they can get to it. And, at the top of his game, when he’s in tune with the plays of his teammates, his puck skills also start to resurface in the offensive zone. He attacks space to fire on net and manipulates defenders to get shots through and opens passing lanes to the slot.

But the Kitchener Rangers defenceman’s performance fluctuated from game to game and, because of it, there was divergence in our evaluations of this player. Brzustewicz lost his aggressiveness some weekends. His deceptive skills abandoned him; he let teammates make the bulk of plays and faded in the background, becoming simply a rush defender and a puck distributor.

Some of our scouts also questioned his skating ability, as while it’s clearly above-average at the junior level, an asset, it may not stay that way in the pros. Brzustewicz completes most of his breakout escapes by using his inside edges or by pivoting in place. He doesn’t have the same cutback explosiveness as high-end NHL puck-movers who separate from opponents with just a couple of strides. And while he kills a lot of opposing plays in transition in the OHL, his backward skating might not generate enough power to allow him to do the same at a higher level.

As Brzustewicz is one of the older players in the draft class, we weighed his inconsistencies and mechanical inefficiencies a bit more when ranking him. He ended up in the middle of our second round, a spot that accurately reflects his number four upside, but also his weaknesses.

 

[Bgav]

Not mad at ALL at this pick. lets go

 

[VIPettersson]

Love this pick just for the value alone. Seemed like a sure thing to be slotted in late first to early 2nd imo.

 

[Canucker]

Happy happy…I like this player a lot.

 

[ahmon]

ASP without the fanfare, good pick

 

[Mr. Canucklehead]

 

[Canadian Canuck]

Let’s go!!! He’s around #40 on every scouting list. I love it. Good puck moving right handed dman. Almost a Point per game too

 

[Uhmkay]

Highlights video. Very good at moving the puck and has great hockey IQ, offensive instincts and vision.

 

[thefeebster]

My video from earlier in the year. I really like his game. He reads the play so well, shows a lot of patience and skill with the puck. He plays a minute munching role for Kitchener (i'm talking like 30-35 min per game), in all situations.

 

[Ryp37]

Rare to see a everyone like a 3rd round pick so much but to be fair, he's great value in this spot.

 

[LickTheEnvelope]

Better pick at this spot than Willander at 11, IMO. Two Right hand d-men early. Still wish they had more picks.

 

[wonton15]

Unanimous good value pick. Is this a first here?

 

[Coaches Coroner]

I had him as a late first to mid 2nd talent. Very surprised he fell this far. Watched him all year in Kitchener. I think he's a victim of a late birthday, not a great shot leads to questions of whether he can produce points at the next level or if he will be more of a puck mover, combined with an absolutely horrible Head Coache's system that had nothing resembling defense in it until he was fired.

 

[Vector]

Love this pick.

 

[bossram]

Another RD. No surprise there. Consensus rankings had him a bit higher.

EP compares him to Gustav Forsling. I think they could have a nice two-way defenseman on their hands. Good in transition. This is a very solid pick.

 

[jigsaw99]

he has almost ppg numbers so that's good.

 

[touchnotthecat]

Near perfect pick. Great value, team need, the name has a z. What more do you need

 

[LastWordArmy]

Brzustewicz, born on November 29th, 2004 in Washington, Michigan, is a defender playing in the OHL. Playing for the Kitchener Rangers, the right-shot defender stands at 6’0” and 187 pounds. Brzustewicz first came onto the scene thanks to his play with the USNTDP. In the 2021-22 season with the NTDP, he scored two goals and 18 assists for 20 points in 55 games with the U18 team. He then decided to take the CHL route, joining the OHL’s Rangers this season. He scored six goals and 51 assists for 57 points in 68 games.

With the solid production from the blueline, Brzustewicz has been ranked anywhere from the last pick in the first round all the way to the late third. Those rankings include being placed 32nd by Draft Prospects Hockey, 44th by The Hockey News and Bob McKenzie, 48th by Recruit Scouting, 51st by FCHockey, 52nd by Elite Prospects, 54th by FloHockey, 56th by DailyFaceoff and Dobber Prospects, 61st by Craig Button, 66th by McKeen’s Hockey, 82nd by Hockey Prospect Radio, and 91st by Smaht Scouting.

2023 NHL Scouting Report #53: Hunter Brzustewicz

Hunter Brzustewicz was a known commodity entering the draft. Why hasn't he moved up draft boards despite his solid production?

lastwordonsports.com

 

[Yultron]

We went from No right handed depth on defense and now we have spectacular right handed depth on defense ,

I love this pick so much , he is a puck moving defenseman and is a great value pick and is part of a great development program with the Kitchener Rangers

He’s going to have a huge year next year . This pick deserves an A

 

[RebuildinVan]

Good interview with him

 

[ziploc]

Great pick, and I love that we are actually filling up the prospect cupboard with some RDs. Such an important position, and we haven’t had to make big stretches to get there. Willander maybe a little, but Strange Bru is great value in the third round.

 

[Nucker101]

Solid pick

 

[JumpierPegasus]

Great pick here, shocked he was available

 

[Bougieman]

Pretty surprised to see him fall so far, but really glad the Canucks were the ones to nab him. Solid 3rd round pick, and it makes up for Vancouver not having a 2nd round pick IMHO.