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...

 

[Cancuks]

I had this guy on my draft list with our second round before it was traded to Detroit. So I like it. I also like how we took several dmen in this draft. Earlier this year I suggested we only pick right shooting dmen in all the rounds and the odds will be in our favor that a couple will turn out. At least we got 3. I would have taken Hoyt Stanley and Luca Cagnoni in the 4th round.

 

[Diversification]

Nickname proposal: Bruiser

 

[Hansen]

Nickname proposal: Bruiser

Brewski

 

[MarkusNaslund19]

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.

You're bigwhite?

Have loved your vids for a long time.

 

[Hansen]

I want to hear Steamer tackle his name

 

[Just A Bit Outside]

Can't wait for his first Bru Ha Ha.

 

[Reverend Mayhem]

And thoughts from his coach:

His coach is Bob McKenzies kid. Insider puns here.

 

[F A N]

I want to hear Steamer tackle his name

Or Carey Price.

 

[Raistlin]

Or Carey Price.

substance abuse unfortunately does that to you.... but then its not like our GM pronounced Willander's name with any flair. (unlike Lekkerimaki's last year)

 

[Kryten]

Just got home and checked the tarded Nhl draft schedule that everyone missed due to work.what a name, how do you pronounce it?

 

[UnleashRasmus]

As a dual fan of the Canucks and Sabres, I loved this pick. I wanted him to be drafted in the second over Wahlstrom. Awesome value.

 

[pitseleh]

 

[Bitz and Bites]

We should have been picking guys like this during the Benning era and we likely wouldn’t have had to pay a first and a second for Hronek and then have to pay up right away for his prime UFA years but you can’t go back and undo Elmers many terrible and short sighted moves.

At least this new management group is keeping enough draft capital to make some good picks like this and build some kind of depth and hopefully a pipeline of future NHLers.

 

[settinguptheplay]

Back in the day when we had a second rounder this was who I had my sights on with our pick. I am both happy and surprised we still managed to get him. This draft has the potential to reinvent our D-core into a skating puck moving machine in 2 or 3 years. Such a change from the plodding mess over the previous decade. This pick gets an A from me.

 

[Hoglander]

Just got home and checked the tarded Nhl draft schedule that everyone missed due to work.what a name, how do you pronounce it?

brew stev-itch

 

[VanillaCoke]

This kids a good pick, they should've used the same drafting philosophy on the subsequent picks.

 

[Hansen]

Also of note, he performed incredibly well at the draft combine and was top 10 in a few areas namely the wingate and the VO2 max which are gruelling

 

[WTG]

wow

 

[docbenton]

This guy is really good, a first round candidate. Reminds me a little bit of Tristan Luneau last year who fell to the second round. A little bit boring because he's good at everything but maybe not elite at any one thing. But there's no way he should have fallen this far; probably a case of every team had one guy over him. Strong chance to be a second pair NHL defender IMO, and non-zero chance to be better than Willander.

 

[Brock]

More info Brzustewicz:

My Final Top 50 OHL Players for the 2023 NHL Entry Draft - Part 2: 30-11

Here's part two of my rankings release: the players ranked from 30 to 11. 11. Andrew Gibson - Defense - Soo Greyhounds I would be absolutel...

ohlprospects.blogspot.com

Final Media/Scout Top 10 for 2023

A week before the 2023 NHL Draft in Nashville, the final media/scout poll for 2023 is complete! For comparison's sake, here was the prelimin...

ohlprospects.blogspot.com

 

[F A N]

We should have been picking guys like this during the Benning era and we likely wouldn’t have had to pay a first and a second for Hronek and then have to pay up right away for his prime UFA years but you can’t go back and undo Elmers many terrible and short sighted moves.

At least this new management group is keeping enough draft capital to make some good picks like this and build some kind of depth and hopefully a pipeline of future NHLers.

Not sure what you mean by "we should have been picking guys like this during the Benning era." It's not like there weren't "attempts" at drafting potential top 4 Dmen. A comparable Dman to Brzustewicz at the time would be BreezeBOIS who was mostly ranked between #40 to 60. Hronek was a 2016 draft pick and that year we drafted Juolevi (sigh...). 2017 we drafted Rathbone. 2018 we drafted Hughes and Woo. Woo was a potential late first round pick. 2020 we drafted Jurmo (whose ranking was all over the place but certainly not out of place where we drafted him). I'm not even counting some other guys.

Reading other comments in this thread has made me feel beter about the Brzustewicz pick but there's a ways to go. If all our draft picks panned out we probably wouldn't need to trade for Hronek. Heck, if Jordan Subban was anything near a prime PK, we wouldn't need to trade for Hronek. If BreezeBOIS and Woo looked like a fit alongside Hughes we probably wouldn't need to trade for Hronek.

You never really know how players turn out. The odds of a Dman drafted in the 3rd round turning into a top 4 Dman is low. That's why you really just got to keep drafting them. Since 1969, there has only been 6 players drafted at #75 who has played over 250 games.

We can debate the merits of drafting for need, but we do/did need D prospects in the system after years of expending high picks on forwards. Heck, if we drafted Pickering instead of Lekkerimaki last season we would have a good LHD prospect in the system alongside Wallinder & co.

 

[MS]

So I think I've watched every iota of video available on Brzustewicz.

It's weird to see some of these 'jack of all trades, master of none' type scouting reports because I don't think that's accurate at all - he has one absolute standout trait which is passing/vision/poise with the puck on his stick. This skill will play up levels and he probably has PP1 potential in the NHL.

Skating is interesting - footspeed looks pretty average but his edgework and elusiveness is excellent. And maybe he's faster than he looks when he wants to be because he seems to be one of those guys who is always on cruise control and mentally a step ahead of the play.

Basically looks like an OHL Quinn Hughes, except a bit bigger (but still will be slightly undersized in the NHL). No physical game whatsoever but seems like he's normally in good positions with an active stick.

Looks to me like a guy with 2nd pairing puck-mover upside and PP utility, probably not a high-leverage guy in pro. Good value I think where they got him.

 

[DFAC]

Probably the only pick I'm actually a fan of this year. Any chance Hunter makes Team USA for this year's WJC?

 

[VanJack]

We should have been picking guys like this during the Benning era and we likely wouldn’t have had to pay a first and a second for Hronek and then have to pay up right away for his prime UFA years but you can’t go back and undo Elmers many terrible and short sighted moves.

At least this new management group is keeping enough draft capital to make some good picks like this and build some kind of depth and hopefully a pipeline of future NHLers.

Exactly.....it really doesn't take a lot of draft acumen to build a solid blueline prospect pool. In the last three drafts and via the college UFA market, the Canucks have seriously restocked the cupboard on the back end.

Wilander, D-Petey, Hirose, Brzustewicz and even McWard and Kudryavstev look like solid pickups. Even a couple of legit potential top-four NHL d-men in that group.

We should have been picking guys like this during the Benning era and we likely wouldn’t have had to pay a first and a second for Hronek and then have to pay up right away for his prime UFA years but you can’t go back and undo Elmers many terrible and short sighted moves.

At least this new management group is keeping enough draft capital to make some good picks like this and build some kind of depth and hopefully a pipeline of future NHLers.

Exactly.....it really doesn't take a lot of draft acumen to build a solid blueline prospect pool. In the last three drafts and via the college UFA market, the Canucks have seriously restocked the cupboard on the back end.

Wilander, D-Petey, Hirose, Brzustewicz and even McWard and Kudryavstev look like solid pickups. Even a couple of legit potential top-four NHL d-men in that group.

 

[Burke's Evil Spirit]

Awesome interview with this guy on Canucks Talk today: Canucks Talk