Let’s address the elephant in the room right away: SHL defender Erik Brannstrom is undersized. He’s listed at 5’10 by Elite Prospects, and there is always more risk involved when drafting a defenceman with size concerns. If you want to take the safe route with the Leafs first round selection, your targeted defencemen at this year’s draft are likely Nicolas Hague or Cal Foote.
Both Hague and Foote carry defensive upside due to their size, but neither player is setting the world on fire in the points department. Foote plays for the Kelowna Rockets of the WHL, and with just 6 goals in 71 games, he’s not much of a scoring threat. Alternatively, Hague finished 14th among OHL defenceman in primary points per game this year, and no scouting service is projecting him to be a top unit powerplay quarterback. After Brannstrom dictated Sweden’s powerplay throughout the recent U-18 tournament, it is quite clear that he has the most offensive upside out of this trio.
He’s also one of the youngest players on the board, as his early September birthday makes him almost a full year younger than Hague, Foote, or Cale Makar. Let’s keep this in mind during our evaluation, as Brannstrom is not as far along in his development curve.
Player Profile: Erik Brannstrom
Brannstrom is your ideal powerplay quarterback. He’s elusive, moves the puck incredibly quickly, and he’s a dangerous scoring threat with either a one-timer or a wrist shot. He dominated at the U-18 tournament, and already boasts 38 games in the Swedish Hockey League.
Brannstrom put up 1.21 points per game in the SuperElit league this season, which is Sweden’s U-20 junior hockey league. This rivals Erik Karlsson’s draft year production of 0.97 points per game, and while we cannot possibly expect him to become the NHL’s best defenceman, this number can also compete with draft-eligible Timothy Liljegren or Flames prospect Oliver Kylington.
Points Per Game Statistics In Super-Elit League (U-20)
Erik Brannstrom (‘16-17): 1.17 ppg
Rasmus Dahlin (‘16-17): 1.06 ppg
Erik Karlsson (‘07-08): 0.97 ppg
Timothy Liljegren (‘15-16): 0.76 ppg
Timothy Liljegren (‘16-17): 0.58 ppg
Dahlin is in the running to be picked 1st overall in next year’s draft, and he’s only seven months younger than Brannstrom. Given his offensive upside, it’s tough to see why Brannstrom is not higher up on draft rankings. NHL Central Scouting ranks him 9th among European skaters, and he ranked 28th in terms of the consolidated draft rankings last month. A lack of size certainly makes this a bit of a risky pick, but Cale Makar is around the same size and sits comfortably within the top 10 on most lists.
Brannstrom earned 35 games in the SHL this year, but only scored 6 points in this span. His teammate Lias Andersson, who I profiled here, simply outplayed him with 19 points in 42 games. However, we must again consider the age difference here, as Andersson was held scoreless in 22 SHL games at Brannstrom’s age last season.
