- Oct 13, 2018
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He's been playing like a #5 in Vancouver so far.
Confirmed Trade: [VAN/COL] Tucker Poolman (20% retained) and 2025 4th round pick for D Erik Brannstrom
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He's been playing like a #5 in Vancouver so far.
- Oct 13, 2018
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Canucks LB
My Favourite, Gone too soon, RIP Luc, We miss you
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Except he has played nothing like Colorado Avalanche fans have said he played like, So much so let me show you this lovely chart.
Most of the time in preseason players get a bad rap, because they have to play with fringe NHL, players that simply don’t give a f*** because it’s preseason.
Agent Zuuuub
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- Jan 2, 2015
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This isn't true.
He easily surpassed being a #7-8 in Ottawa. He even played in the top 4 numerous times because of injuries and was a positive influence. The pairing of Brannstrom-Zud was one of our best.
He had chemistry with everyone he played with, he had some of the best advanced stats on the Sens and many other defenceman had some of their best advanced stats playing with Brannstrom.
He made Ottawas 3rd pair decent despite being sandbagged by players like Hamonic and mostly playing with the plug bottom 6.
How would a #7/8 be able to do all this?
Truth is that he is and was a great number 5 and it you pair him with a big defenceman who clears the net you have a great pairing.
More than that he is only 25 and already shown he can hold his own in the top 4 and now that he is playing in a high IQ system with high IQ players he has enough ability to become a top 4 defenceman.
And if not he's still a bargain at 900k.
Brannstrom signed for a minimum league contract, he was considered a fringe NHL player. If he approached the preseason expecting to be given a spot and half-assed the camp and pre-season games, that's not a great mentality to have.
He was trash in Colorado for his short stint here, but end of the day it's a short sample size. I'd take what Ottawa fans say to be a more accurate depiction of Brannstrom's actual ability. I'm glad he's doing well in Vancouver, but he was not a fit with the Avs.
robsenz
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frightenedinmatenum2
Registered User
He has played very curated minutes. Not anywhere close to #5 D.
He will be reassigned to the minors or back on waivers before the end of the season. A lot of people will be confused and claim that the Canucks are wrong for not keeping him.
I have seen this story 1000 times with multiple defenseman who get the kind of deployment Brannstrom is getting, where people overrate their performance without accounting for deployment.
Small sample size in Vancouver but I’ve been really impressed with him so far. Looking like a solid bottom pairing pickup with strong skating and puck moving skills with the potential to move up to the second pairing if he continues to improve.
Really liking this pickup so far.
frightenedinmatenum2
Registered User
He had short periods where he played a bigger role on a very bad Ottawa team, but he was never able to stick with it. He rarely rised up as more than a 6-7 tweener type outside of his one big season. Outside of one season, he was never a #5 D here.
Look at our D core over the last 5 or so years and consider that Brannstrom failed to stick there over multiple coaches, and then failed to make the Avalanche.
People are gushing over him in VAN while he is playing incredibly curated minutes. If he takes another step forward that's one thing, but as of now he has shown nothing to suggest he will stick in the NHL as anything more than a guy they can plug in when needed if they manage his deployment.
Agent Zuuuub
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If you get his deployment and the player blows it out of the park, isn't that ideal? Like the best case scenario? Isn't he doing exactly what he is supposed to?
A cheap player who you can throw out and not worry about him harming the team? Not only that but a cheap player who you know will help your depth outplay the teams other depth, who you know can step up and play higher in the lineup if the need arises.
What more could you want from a cheap bottom pair d?
frightenedinmatenum2
Registered User
You're moving the goal posts.
He is not a #5 D.
I've never argued that he wasn't someone who could be a fringe NHLer. Which is the role he has now.
Agent Zuuuub
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What do you mean he was never able to stick with it? We pay Chabot 8 mill to do that job, and Sanderson is one of the best d talents in the league.
He wasn't going to regularly play in the top 4 because of that had nothing to do with him not being able to stick to it.
And the truth is that many times when an 8 mill Chabot went down he was replaced with Brannstrom and the new pairing wouldn't miss a beat.
And what do you mean multiple coaches? for the majority of his career his coach was DJ who was terrible for our young players and in particular Brannstrom. And Brannstrom still did his job.
He did his job under Martin too, and now he's doing his job under Tocchet.
Under all three he was a positive and play driving influence from the bottom pair.
benfranklin
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- Jun 29, 2024
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In wins and losses maybe, but lterally the only place outside of practice for coaches and management to evaluate fringe players who will make a team or not, but ok.
biturbo19
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- Jul 13, 2010
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I've gotta say, i've actually been pleasantly surprised with Brannstrom in limited minutes with the Canucks so far. His puck moving ability (ie the ability to make an actual outlet pass rather than just bang it off the boards and out) has stood out among our Bottom-4D who are otherwise largely incapable of doing such.
He also has some weird offensive chemistry with fellow smurf Garland. idk if they're in a Guild or something. But they play the same way in the offensive zone. Just move around and spin around and keep the puck moving around. It's all very...circular.
But he still sucks ass at most other things. His gap control is still horrendous, he tries hard but gets absolutely abused down low defending. Offensively, he keeps plays alive but doesn't really add much.
But...Decently fine with a few little unexpected puck-moving perks is plenty fine from a bottom-dollar "trade filler" unwanted nothing guy though. And it's handy that they can just shuttle him up and down to the minors without worrying much.
He also has some weird offensive chemistry with fellow smurf Garland. idk if they're in a Guild or something. But they play the same way in the offensive zone. Just move around and spin around and keep the puck moving around. It's all very...circular.
But he still sucks ass at most other things. His gap control is still horrendous, he tries hard but gets absolutely abused down low defending. Offensively, he keeps plays alive but doesn't really add much.
But...Decently fine with a few little unexpected puck-moving perks is plenty fine from a bottom-dollar "trade filler" unwanted nothing guy though. And it's handy that they can just shuttle him up and down to the minors without worrying much.
BKarchitect
Registered User
We really need to be better than to post 5-game sample size jfresh charts as representative of…anything. The Twitter infographics culture of analysis has gotten way out of hand.
Glad he’s working out in a depth role though, based on last year and the right team/partner fit, he certainly is still a guy with some NHL tools. Maybe he saw his NHL future flash before his eyes and needed that little push to produce some quality performances.
Glad he’s working out in a depth role though, based on last year and the right team/partner fit, he certainly is still a guy with some NHL tools. Maybe he saw his NHL future flash before his eyes and needed that little push to produce some quality performances.
Welcome to Vancouver Canucks fans
cc
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That's funny considering almost all the Canucks fans are qualifying their comments by saying it's a short sample size.Welcome to Vancouver Canucks fans
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Andy Dufresne
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What was his sample size in Colorado?Welcome to Vancouver Canucks fans
A #5 D-man is a bottom pairing D-man.
Bottom pairing D-men typically get sheltered minutes. If they didn't need sheltering they would play bigger minutes against better players which would make them top-4 D-men.
But if he's doing well in that role, how does that not make him a good bottom pairing D-man?
You can argue over the semantics when it comes to a 5 vs a 6 but right now I'd say he's carrying his pairing so he does look like the 5.
That said, I myself need to see a much bigger sample size before I jump to any conclusions on this player.
Welcome to all fans, including your own base.Welcome to Vancouver Canucks fans
Considering it was the same product as we saw for years in Ottawa... The rest of us know how dumb a number of you in this thread will look in a few weeks time.
Canucks LB
My Favourite, Gone too soon, RIP Luc, We miss you
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Do you know what’s fascinating, I can already predict who types what posts on these websites without actually reading their names, quite a talent.Welcome to Vancouver Canucks fans
Pierce you are one of a kind
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Nobody is saying he's the next Hughes, the overwhelming sentiment is that he's been good as a bottom pairing D man.
He's carrying the bottom pairing, that means he's playing like a #5.
All bottom pairing D get sheltered minutes, if they didn't they'd be top 4D.
Yall need to chill, the takeaway here is he has elevated our bottom pairing and that has translated to more depth scoring. A welcome change considering how Forbort and VD as a pair looked early on. He is an RFA cost controlled and due a small raise, if he can keep this up it is found money as the pick sent to Colorado was around the going rate to dump poolmans cap hit.
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