Waived: [VAN] D Erik Brannstrom waived by the Canucks (cleared)

[WarriorofTime]

Theres just too many of these skilled small dmen now and not enough pp1 spots for someone who doesnt even have an elite shot.

Yeah, teams need like 5 PK'ing defenseman and basically only 1 PP defenseman as your 2nd unit doesn't get a ton of time, so the guy you put there isn't that important. PK though.. you never don't take an opportunity to switch so you don't get trapped. When you don't PK well enough for a coach to trust you, you're a pretty big liability from a lineup construction standpoint. The extra whammy for Brannstrom is he doesn't have a career track record that suggests good PP defenseman blocked by an elite one. He had some good opportunity in Ottawa but never took advantage.

 

[tyhee]

He swapped to the right side once and was dreadful the whole game. They never went back to it afterwards

On the other hand, in that game the pair of Forbort-Brannstrom was notable mostly in not getting caved in the way that Forbort-Desharnais had gotten caved in when that pair had been tried earlier. Brannstrom wasn't on the ice for any goals, for or against, and didn't take any penalties as the Canucks won 3-2 in San Jose on November 2.

While Brannstrom wasn't good in that game I considered it a minor success. He and Forbort had been less bad than the pair of Forbort-Desharnais had been when tried previously.

On the other hand Brannstrom played less than 11 minutes in the game while Forbort got an additional 4 and a half minutes without him, so pretty clearly Tocchet wasn't happy playing him on the right side. Was Tocchet minimizing his playing time because he was making too many mistakes or was he not getting playing time because Tocchet wasn't comfortable playing him on his off side?

My guess is that it was probably a little of both, that Brannstrom's early play probably reinforced Tocchet's expectations, but I was surprised, given how bad the Canucks' 3rd pairing had been otherwise and that Brannstrom was reported to feel comfortable on the right, that the Canucks didn't give it another try.

 

[Oilslick941611]

Obviously NHL GMs are dumb, NHL coaches like Tocchet are dumb unlike all of the brilliant hockey minds that can be found on this website.

The coaches see everything, behind the scenes, interactions, how the players train,how hard or not hard they go in practice, how well they listen etc. Fans only see the games. 99% of time, im trusting the management over HF hockey minds when it comes to players.

 

[Three On Zero]

The coaches see everything, behind the scenes, interactions, how the players train,how hard or not hard they go in practice, how well they listen etc. Fans only see the games. 99% of time, im trusting the management over HF hockey minds when it comes to players.

That can be refuted by management and “change of scenery” trades where the traded player goes on to have a better career with the new team.

Good example is Podkolzin, Tocchet didn’t trust him and had him on a short leash. Gets traded away and is a staple on another teams 2nd line. Fans knew the skill set he provided but the coach wouldn’t let him play his game.

 

[Bgav]

Hronek rejoined the team, probably why brannstrom has been waived

 

[barriers]

 

[WarriorofTime]

Guess everyone is dumb except Canuck fans and twitter analytic zealots.

 

[Metalwood]

He clears so much ado about nothing lmao

 

[bringbacktheskate604]

Hronek rejoined the team, probably why brannstrom has been waived

I wanna believe that but it might be a little early based on the original time line of the 29th of January. Tochett did say he was one the ice earlier than expected.

Could be they felt they had a better chance to get him through but even if he was claimed, the cap space was always paramount. Was really hoping he could have been at least decent defensively in a 2ND pairing role because Soucy sucks and Erik is an upgrade on anyone offensively after 43, 17 and 57.

Playing in Abby regularly in likely top minutes at some point in a similar system, might be a good thing, even if ends up with us getting a 3rd round pick?

 

[Brookbank]

Thank Christ he cleared. They really did devalue him before they waived. Maybe that was part of the plan

This player really needs to transition to a forward

 

[IComeInPeace]

Thank Christ he cleared. They really did devalue him before they waived. Maybe that was part of the plan

This player really needs to transition to a forward

“In Brännström’s last 11 games before he was waived, he was on the ice for nine goals against at 5-on-5 and just two goals for, both in the same game against the Detroit Red Wings.”

“Across those games, Brännström was dead last on the Canucks defence in corsi percentage, shots-for percentage, and expected goals percentage.”

Why the Canucks waived Erik Brännström (and why he cleared)

With Filip Hronek nearing a return from injury, Erik Brännström was put on waivers by the Vancouver Canucks.

www.vancouverisawesome.com

 

[tucker3434]

Well, yeah. As I said a month ago, it’s hard to keep a puck mover on the bottom pairing. Teams want guys in that spot that can eat bad minutes while better players get a breather, not guys that need sheltering themselves. Go be an AHL all star.

 

[biturbo19]

Weren't Canucks fans talking about how well he was doing not too long ago? What happened?

A lot of Canucks fans got way too hyped up over a small, pleasantly surprising sample of Brannstrom not being completely useless. But he fairly quickly came back down to earth and got exposed for what he is. A roster-fringe sort of nothing defenceman. Small, not very fast, horrendous gaps and gets pushed around physically. Isn't really a true offensive defenceman, but isn't nearly good enough defensively either. Doesn't contribute anything meaningful to Special Teams. He's just one of those guys that fans are always way more excited about than actual coaches.


It was sweet that they got a couple months of serviceable NHL-level play out of Brannstrom...and that was just "found money". But odds are, it was always going to end this way. Still nice to have a guy like that in the organization now that he's cleared waivers again. Just an extra layer of depth that you can play if you have to. But nothing more really.

 

[Brookbank]

Too good for the AHL but not good enough for the NHL or has nobody found a way to utilize him ?

The D stats were bad. But he didnt look as bad defensively as the numbers say. Van fans love trashing bad defensive play. Myers gets it, They all get it. If you play bad you get trashed. Doesn't matter who you are. And yet the fans barely noticed it once.

 

[voyageur]

A lot of Canucks fans got way too hyped up over a small, pleasantly surprising sample of Brannstrom not being completely useless. But he fairly quickly came back down to earth and got exposed for what he is. A roster-fringe sort of nothing defenceman. Small, not very fast, horrendous gaps and gets pushed around physically. Isn't really a true offensive defenceman, but isn't nearly good enough defensively either. Doesn't contribute anything meaningful to Special Teams. He's just one of those guys that fans are always way more excited about than actual coaches.


It was sweet that they got a couple months of serviceable NHL-level play out of Brannstrom...and that was just "found money". But odds are, it was always going to end this way. Still nice to have a guy like that in the organization now that he's cleared waivers again. Just an extra layer of depth that you can play if you have to. But nothing more really.

Replacing Zadorov and Cole with Forbort and Desharnais was probably the first mistake. I've been told Tocchet/Foote have a preference for more physical d-men out there, after the top pairing. If the centers on the Canucks have been playing the way they did against the Jets, giving up the middle of the ice, I'm not surprised any d-man collapses out there.

 

[David71]

He was very solid early in the season when playing limited minutes before Hronek got hurt but since then he's had to play more minutes anytime he's been in the lineup and it hasn't looked as good.

Coaching staff here prefers major size on their blueline, and PK ability on their 3rd pair. Philosophy wise it was never going to be a match here for Brannstrom.

I think in the right situation he can be a #6 guy but it won't be in Vancouver.

this is all tocchetts doing. alvin complied now its biting them in the ASS. everyone knows they're desperate to find a top 4 defenseman but wont come cheap without asking for wallinder/lerkamaki + 1st rounder.