D Erik Brannstrom (2017, 15th, VGK - Traded to OTT)

[LeProspector]

How does someone factor in mono in their analysis? The only person who truly knows how an injury or in this case an illness affected their season is the player himself. Scouts aren't medical professionals and nor do they have access to such records for players. They show up, take in the games and make a determination based on those viewings.

Mono should not be used to prop the player up as better than he really is, even though some Leafs fans are using it that way. Mono does mean though that the player's play may not be an accurate reflection of his talent and more information is required to truly determine how much of a role it played in a player's performance. This is why people need to wait and see how the player performs this following year before branding him as a star or a "low IQ" player.

I see a lot of folks putting emphasis on "scouting reports", since when have scouts ever been great at predicting the development of 17/18 year old defenseman? According to these same reports Liljegren was supposedly poor defensively but in the few years that I have been watching the SHL I have yet to see a teenage defenseman that was great defensively. He certainly did not have any issues holding his own among his peers in the WJSS.




I also see a lot of negativity directed towards one Swede while another has received nothing but praise. There are legitimate reasons why someone might not be very high on a prospect but if you go through the last Liljegren thread you will see a lot of pettiness and a lot of people that just want to see an 18 year old fail. The Brannstrom thread is actually a much better read than the Liljegren thread which consists of a few homers and a few folks who are only interested in stirring the pot. You have to wade through a lot of crap to get to the actual discussion. This thread seems far better in comparison because its too early for Knights homers to exist and its too early for people to passionately hate the Knights.

I would say the hate directed towards Liljegren is because of Toronto fans. I'm sure if Liljegren was drafted by Vegas and Brann Toronto, Brannstrom would be receiving some hate. Fans of Toronto have a tendency of overrating their players/prospects. Although most fan bases do, the sure number of Toronto fans makes it that much worse.
Their aren't many Golden Knights fans on these boards yet, so for the most part the opinion on Brannstrom is unbiased and neutral.

 

[ulvvf]

I have been impressed by what i have seen so far in chl, if he can bring that play into shl he will have a good year. Looks more mature.

 

[derriko]

Not sure where his thread went, but hopefully some Swedes can explain what’s going on with Erik.

1 assist in 8 games and a -2 on a 5-3 team.

I know the SEL is a low scoring league, and favors vets, but for an OFD that is pretty bad. I was hoping for something more like a 20 point pace over 50 games. Right now he would average out to 6 points which is absolutely brutal.

Is he snakebit? On the 3rd pair? Getting no pp time? What’s going on with him?

Out of the top 3 picks Vegas has last year, I thought Brannstrom had the most raw talent out of all of them.

 

[Callum]

Interesting. I'm sure it's just a small bump in the road.. I'm still really high on this kid

 

[DatDude44]

Said this at the draft and i'll say it again and it's by no means a shot at Brannstrom because i think he can be a good OFD in the future....but they made a mistake taking him over Valimaki IMO.

 

[Zaddy]

Haven't watched HV71 much so I can't say, but just going through his gamelog it looks like he's getting pretty decent icetime:

http://www.hv71.se/lag/3db0-3db09jXTE__hv71/qQ9-2016bEK8X__erik-brannstrom/gamelog

Seems to be getting a good amount of shots on goal and has two assists in his last two games so he seems to be trending in the right direction. Not that uncommon for guys coming back from NHL camps to start off poorly.

 

[VictorLustig]

Not sure where his thread went, but hopefully some Swedes can explain what’s going on with Erik.

1 assist in 8 games and a -2 on a 5-3 team.

I know the SEL is a low scoring league, and favors vets, but for an OFD that is pretty bad. I was hoping for something more like a 20 point pace over 50 games. Right now he would average out to 6 points which is absolutely brutal.

Is he snakebit? On the 3rd pair? Getting no pp time? What’s going on with him?

Out of the top 3 picks Vegas has last year, I thought Brannstrom had the most raw talent out of all of them.

20 points would be the second most ever by a U19 player in the SHL, 1 behind Hedman. Erik Karlsson had 10 and Kronwall had 5, several late round nobodies had more than those two so don't read too much into point totals for junior aged SHL players, especially not defensemen.

 

[Circulartheory]

From my understanding from others' reports, he's less of a flashy Karlsson OFD type and more of a PMD type in the mold of Enstrom and Timmonen so his points seem to be right on track.

I'm more focused on the icetime and his last game was 21 minutes, which is great!

 

[derriko]

20 points would be the second most ever by a U19 player in the SHL, 1 behind Hedman. Erik Karlsson had 10 and Kronwall had 5, several late round nobodies had more than those two so don't read too much into point totals for junior aged SHL players, especially not defensemen.

Interesting. So it’s more of him having a great rookie season (6 points in 35) so I set my expectations too high for his sophomore season. Or was HV71 in the Allsvenskan last year?

From my understanding from others' reports, he's less of a flashy Karlsson OFD type and more of a PMD type in the mold of Enstrom and Timmonen so his points seem to be right on track.

I'm more focused on the icetime and his last game was 21 minutes, which is great!

I know he is the new age minute eating / skating defenseman in the mold of Juolevi / Valimaki and like you said, Ennstrom / Timmonen from the past, but he was flashing skill like crazy at the Vegas rookie camp.

From what I saw, he was shooting a ton, dangling, and going end to end. That’s why I thought he would double or triple his production. And of course, It was my only viewings of him so I thought that was how he played regularly. Again i probably just set my expectations too high.

Playing 21 minutes is #2 or #3 minutes so that’s great.

 

[Luddowich]

Interesting. So it’s more of him having a great rookie season (6 points in 35) so I set my expectations too high for his sophomore season. Or was HV71 in the Allsvenskan last year?

Playing 21 minutes is #2 or #3 minutes so that’s great.

As for the first paragraph it's more about him getting more difficult minutes this year and last year was playing more to his strengths (offense), also HV71 wasn't in Allsvenskan and you'll likely never ever see them in Allsvenskan as they're one of the powerhouses of Swedish hockey and have been so for a long time.

I think the best way to read prospects in the SHL is to watch them and remembering that it's a low scoring pro league we're talking about.
Personally I've been very impressed by my sightings of Brännström this year, has taken obvious strides from last year and plays much more relaxed and confident.

20 points may sound little but that would've placed him top 10 in scoring by defensemen last year. Outscorinf guys like Rosèn and Borgman who are both playing in the NHL at this point.

As for the end, you're absolutely correct. These coaches aren't playing them for their development. These coaches are playing them to win and to keep their jobs so the fact that Brännström is playing as much minutes as he is is very very impressive.

 

[Havre]

Yeah. I wouldn't worry. If anything he is ahead of schedule - and I think he should have gone earlier.

 

[Halla]

Woulda been happy with him at 17 had Liljegren been taken by vegas. I think he develops into a speedy 2nd pairing guy that can put up 40+ pts

 

[JAS 39 Gripen]

Calm down, use EK65s D+1 numbers for reference:
GP G A P PIM +/-

Frölunda HC

SHL

45

5

5

10

10

3

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

 

[PG Canuck]

I knew the stat-watchers would be going nuts.

 

[JFG]

Imo the best player on the ice in Sweden’s first WJC game.

 

[PittsburghHustlers]

Imo the best player on the ice in Sweden’s first WJC game.

Have to agree. He was excellent in every zone. Would be nice to see him get some PP time tho.

 

[Colt.45Orr]

Have to agree. He's was excellent in every zone. Would be nice to see him get some PP time tho.

He got 1G, 1A without proper PP time?

 

[PittsburghHustlers]

He got 1G, 1A without proper PP time?

Yes, both of his points were 5on5. I don't think he got any PP time at all, Sweden is playing one D on each unit, Dahlin on the first and Liljegren on the second. He played a lot 4on5 and looked really good. But offense is his thing and at this point I like him a lot more than Liljegren as a PP QB.

He was just as dominating as he was in the u18 last spring, will be fun to see how he does against some bigger and better competition!

 

[Colt.45Orr]

Seems bizarre to be wasting his talents sitting on the bench instead of using him on a PP unit. Poor decision, IMO.

 

[Grub]

Great player but looked very small out there. Thought he should had been used in the PP more.

 

[Keep Sorokin Me Babe]

I don't think Sweden has the forward skill depth to run 4F 1D on that second powerplay unit. Would like to see Liljegren-Brannstrom with 3F

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

I don't think Sweden has the forward skill depth to run 4F 1D on that second powerplay unit. Would like to see Liljegren-Brannstrom with 3F

Take Steen off the PP.

 

[LeafChief]

Brannstrom looked excellent today in game 1 vs Belarus.

Very composed and very smooth.

 

[PittsburghHustlers]

Take Steen off the PP.

I don't think Sweden has the forward skill depth to run 4F 1D on that second powerplay unit. Would like to see Liljegren-Brannstrom with 3F

Agreed. He's arguably more gifted offensively than every player on the second unit.

 

[CupInSIX]

He's having a hell of a week. 1g1a today and 5 points in his last 4 games, I think.