RD Harrison Brunicke - Kamloop Blazers, WHL (2024, 44th, PIT)

[Tasty Biscuits]

Dude certainly looks the part, real impressive showing in preseason so far.

 

[Juniorhockeyguru]

growing suspicion on board is that he’s got a real chance to make the NHL roster as a 2nd rounder if EK65 can’t go.

He’s been with Pettersson due to injuries to Karlsson and looks like he will get another look tomorrow. If he has another really strong game then… I think he’s gonna be in vs NYR opening night.

While exciting, idk if it’s a good thing? Despite his play I don’t think more than a quick cup of coffee to reward him is good for his development. And I am partial to sending junior players back early (earlier than even right now). I doubt he gets more than a couple and 9 games at most.

Encouraging but intriguing situation.

Please, he'll eventually be sent back.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

Please, he'll eventually be sent back.

Probably. But some notable Pens watchers have said he looks better than Marino did in his 1st camp.

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

Please, he'll eventually be sent back.

I guess you missed the last sentence of my post which literally says that.

I’m saying would it be better for him to get his WHL season going early rather than missing 13 games in Kamloops to play a limited role with the Penguins for 9 games.

 

[Hockeyville USA]

Skates so much better than I originally thought, intriguing to say the least

 

[emptyNedder]

I guess you missed the last sentence of my post which literally says that.

I’m saying would it be better for him to get his WHL season going early rather than missing 13 games in Kamloops to play a limited role with the Penguins for 9 games.

This seems to be a pretty common understanding of development. I am not sure it is always correct. Moving a young player who is not ready to the NHL full time would cause issues with development.

However, I think having a short stint, even if limited, might be analogous to a high school student taking a university course during summer break. It might prove more than the student is comfortable with, but it will help them understand the work needed to succeed at a higher level.

 

[Turin]

Not often you see a 18 year old second round defenseman and have a hard time picking out flaws in his game. Hopefully he dominates in jr this year and gets WJC experience.

 

[Hockeyville USA]

Brunicke has gone from obscure 2nd round pick which raised eyebrows (many thought Artamonov and Stiga should have been selected in that slot) to "could get NHL games as an 18 year old" in just 3 months. Incredible.

 

[KrisLetAngry]

I guess you missed the last sentence of my post which literally says that.

I’m saying would it be better for him to get his WHL season going early rather than missing 13 games in Kamloops to play a limited role with the Penguins for 9 games.

This seems to be a pretty common understanding of development. I am not sure it is always correct. Moving a young player who is not ready to the NHL full time would cause issues with development.

However, I think having a short stint, even if limited, might be analogous to a high school student taking a university course during summer break. It might prove more than the student is comfortable with, but it will help them understand the work needed to succeed at a higher level.

Myself I'd love to see him get 5 to 9 games with the club.

15 minutes a night against grown men. Instant feed back from the coaching staff. Woule be great for his development.

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

Brunicke has gone from obscure 2nd round pick which raised eyebrows (many thought Artamonov and Stiga should have been selected in that slot) to "could get NHL games as an 18 year old" in just 3 months. Incredible.

Yeah very encouraging.

Time will tell though, a guy like Ty Smith pushed for a spot out of his draft too and started his career somewhat strong.

Gotta let this kid develop IMO

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

Myself I'd love to see him get 5 to 9 games with the club.

15 minutes a night against grown men. Instant feed back from the coaching staff. Woule be great for his development.

At this point I’m ok with a couple of games because the WHL season has started but 9 and a month in the NHL may be pushing it

I’d really like him to have a successful junior season and don’t want to throw him off too much.

Great example @93LEAFS always talks about was the immediate return of Marner to the London Knights, allowing him to hit his D+1 running and come into next season confident and ready to push for a role on the NHL club.

 

[SomeDude]

Brunicke has gone from obscure 2nd round pick which raised eyebrows (many thought Artamonov and Stiga should have been selected in that slot) to "could get NHL games as an 18 year old" in just 3 months. Incredible.

Obscure? He was ranked as a 2nd round pick by just about anyone credible.

He’s having a great camp and exceeding expectations but there is no need for revisionist history.

 

[BKarchitect]

There were definitely folks who had Brunicke as a first round grade. He rose all throughout the second half of last year. It was a great pick by the Pens, but I’d emphasize one of the posts above that great first camp and even a looksie-loo at this age doesn’t guarantee he’s going to be an NHL regular more quickly or is more ready than guys who have already been sent back to juniors. He will have to continue to build upon his strong upward trajectory and provide himself all over again next fall and the fall after that.

The AHL is littered with top two round guys who “made their NHL team” at 18 only to not progress much from there. At defense, Heinola and Bjornfot spring to mind immediately. I just don’t believe the “he got a cup of tea as a teenager, look how close he is to being an NHLer” is quite the bragging right or truism some may think it is.

Overall it’s a great sign though that he’s impressed so much. Loved the pick at draft day and love it the same now.

 

[Hale The Villain]

Brunicke has gone from obscure 2nd round pick which raised eyebrows (many thought Artamonov and Stiga should have been selected in that slot) to "could get NHL games as an 18 year old" in just 3 months. Incredible.

Definitely wasn't obscure. Was largely ranked in the 2nd round and could have easily gone late 1st round given the demand for defensive RHDs.

He's an odd one for me in that his stats the last two seasons were god awful (17 assists in 114 total WHL games), but he passed the eye test for me good enough that I wanted him with the Sens' 2nd round pick, as he has decent talent and great tools to work with.

 

[Hockeyville USA]

Obscure? He was ranked as a 2nd round pick by just about anyone credible.

He’s having a great camp and exceeding expectations but there is no need for revisionist history.

He wasn't a huge points producer and was ranked 52nd among North Americans by Central Scouting. McKeens and EP were much higher on him yes, but everyone else had him in the 50-70 range.

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

There were definitely folks who had Brunicke as a first round grade. He rose all throughout the second half of last year. It was a great pick by the Pens, but I’d emphasize one of the posts above that great first camp and even a looksie-loo at this age doesn’t guarantee he’s going to be an NHL regular more quickly or is more ready than guys who have already been sent back to juniors. He will have to continue to build upon his strong upward trajectory and provide himself all over again next fall and the fall after that.

The AHL is littered with top two round guys who “made their NHL team” at 18 only to not progress much from there. At defense, Heinola and Bjornfot spring to mind immediately. I just don’t believe the “he got a cup of tea as a teenager, look how close he is to being an NHLer” is quite the bragging right or truism some may think it is.

Overall it’s a great sign though that he’s impressed so much. Loved the pick at draft day and love it the same now.

Yup. Ultimately 3 weeks of great play is nice, but long way to go before we crown him.

 

[SomeDude]

He wasn't a huge points producer and was ranked 52nd among North Americans by Central Scouting. McKeens and EP were much higher on him yes, but everyone else had him in the 50-70 range.

I said respectable so that rules out CS.

There was a poster on here that put together a spreadsheet to get a consensus ranking of the draft class. Brunicke was ranked 47 based on 30 sources, 3 spots from where he went.

 

[Juniorhockeyguru]

Definitely wasn't obscure. Was largely ranked in the 2nd round and could have easily gone late 1st round given the demand for defensive RHDs.

He's an odd one for me in that his stats the last two seasons were god awful (17 assists in 114 total WHL games), but he passed the eye test for me good enough that I wanted him with the Sens' 2nd round pick, as he has decent talent and great tools to work with.

"God awful". You realize that in his rookie year, he had Olen Zellweger and other 19-20 year olds who were established ahead of him right? That team finished with 48 wins and were hosting the Mem Cup.

 

[Hale The Villain]

"God awful". You realize that in his rookie year, he had Olen Zellweger and other 19-20 year olds who were established ahead of him right? That team finished with 48 wins and were hosting the Mem Cup.

17 assists in 114 WHL games is pretty awful, even given Brunicke's role as a defensive D.

Has to be among the lowest assist totals of any player drafted in the top 2 rounds out of major junior in some time.

But like I said in my post, he's someone who passed the eye test for me enough that I wasn't super worried about his low point totals. He clearly isn't without talent or brainless.

 

[Juniorhockeyguru]

17 assists in 114 WHL games is pretty awful, even given Brunicke's role as a defensive D.

Has to be among the lowest assist totals of any player drafted in the top 2 rounds out of major junior in some time.

But like I said in my post, he's someone who passed the eye test for me enough that I wasn't super worried about his low point totals. He clearly isn't without talent or brainless.

Even last year, the team was the shits and he wasn't the top option. He was still on the 2nd pairing.

 

[jackp0t]

To be fair his numbers were bad, but I'm not sure the 16yo season is really relevant for 95% of the players.

Even for the DY, its usually how strong you finish the season, more than the 60-70 games you played.

For some reason he reminds me of ME Vlasic at 18-19

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Is it possible that his game looks better with NHL players in that the things he’s good at aren’t the types of things that require being able to dominate offensively in junior?

 

[Hockeyville USA]

Is it possible that his game looks better with NHL players in that the things he’s good at aren’t the types of things that require being able to dominate offensively in junior?

He's getting more ice time with higher end players and he's got elite non offense traits. Just really hard nowadays for CHL defensive defensemen to move up levels successfully nowadays. Brunicke is an elite skater and drives play, which are two green lights.

 

[Hockeyville USA]

Penguins sending him back to junior. We'll see if he can tear up the Dub and put up big numbers with Behm in Kamloops

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

The correct move. I don’t see him putting up massive point totals in junior but hopefully this camp was a sign of things to come long term.