Damien Brunner

livewell68

Registered User
Jul 20, 2007
8,680
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The Devils have two very talented, creative offensive forwards in Elias and Jagr.

When Elias gets back, I think the top 2 lines should be :

Zubrus - Zajac - Jagr

Elias - Henrique - Brunner

I think we will start scoring goals, it's all part of the chemistry building and as the chemistry starts coming around, so will players' confidence.

I think they should put Brunner with Jagr on the powerplay, Ryder doesn't seem to fit there too well.
 

MountainGoat

Guest
it would be nice if he passed the puck more, he's too soft to be a puck hog

overall I don't like his style, tries to do too much all alone
 

DerekDevils30

Registered User
Feb 2, 2007
19,935
15,575
Manitoba
Brunner is in quite the funk right now. He looked great early on but has been poor for weeks. What is the remedy? Maybe sliding him on a line with Elias, like some have mentioned, would work wonders for him.
 

Bleedred

Travis Green BLOWS! Bring back Nasreddine!
Sponsor
May 1, 2011
128,935
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Elias works wonder for every player (David Clarkson being the exception) so I think he'd be good with Brunner. I'd leave the ZZ Jags line together until they go cold. That will allow Patty to play with Brunner some.
 

yehyeh

Devils. Devils? Yeah, Devils.
Dec 17, 2011
637
13
NNJ
The Devils have two very talented, creative offensive forwards in Elias and Jagr.

When Elias gets back, I think the top 2 lines should be :

Zubrus - Zajac - Jagr

Elias - Henrique - Brunner

I think we will start scoring goals, it's all part of the chemistry building and as the chemistry starts coming around, so will players' confidence.

I think they should put Brunner with Jagr on the powerplay, Ryder doesn't seem to fit there too well.

I completely agree. At this point, you can't really break up what the JaZZ :)naughty:) line is doing.

Elias with Henrique and Brunner seems to really make sense to me as well.
 

EliasFTW

Registered User
Jan 27, 2009
8,397
1,073
Utica, NY
The other day Ryder Henrique Brunner were on the ice for a couple shifts together and looked great creating constant pressure. lines in no order

Ryder-Henrique-Brunner
Zubie-zajac-Jagr
Elias-lokti-Bernier
Carter-Yayo-Cam Jam
 
Last edited:

Benedict Parisechuk

Army of Pandolfo's
Apr 5, 2013
8,371
1
Chicago, IL
I think he'll start scoring again eventually but hes pretty irritating to watch right now. He's been pulling way too many Harry Houdini's recently and for someone who is only known for there creativity and goal scoring, that's kind of a problem. I do think he needs to be with Elias when he comes back. The experiment with Zajac was a mess.
 

RJK

Registered User
Feb 25, 2010
1,453
1
NC
the best combo to get production out of everyone on the line to me is brunner zajac jags. the best way to get ryder going is ryder zajac jags.
 

Richer's Ghost

Bourbonite
Apr 19, 2007
60,106
14,421
photoshop labor camp somewhere in MN
Brunner needs more space to work his skills. Cycling the puck in tight traffic does not open him up for the types of shots we saw early this year. I think he needs Elias to draw that traffic away from him and let him get more creative. Even last night we saw him try to make 2 moves and get a shot off in tight and it's just not his thing - he needs space at the top of the circle to rip one. Ryder I think it much like that too but seems to have a quicker release than Brunner so he can do it in a more confined piece of ice and move his body around the puck more than the puck around his body if that makes sense (Kovalev was a master at this).
 

JerryGigantic

Old Skool
Jul 17, 2006
6,720
46
New York
The Devils have two very talented, creative offensive forwards in Elias and Jagr.

When Elias gets back, I think the top 2 lines should be :

Zubrus - Zajac - Jagr

Elias - Henrique - Brunner

I think we will start scoring goals, it's all part of the chemistry building and as the chemistry starts coming around, so will players' confidence.

I think they should put Brunner with Jagr on the powerplay, Ryder doesn't seem to fit there too well.

I like those lines as well.

Travis/Jagr is a much more logical fit than Elias/Jagr for a million reasons, not the least of which being Elias and Jagr want the puck in the same area, so Patty has to switch to a less familiar/comfortable situation to play with him. And although Jagr has creativity for sure, he is primarily a bull at this point, much like how Travis and Zubie play.

Elias can cycle (he can do everything), but he thrives with players with creativity and who like to shoot. His 5 on 5 splits last season showed him having slightly more success with Henrique at center than anyone else.

Ryder - Lokti - Bernier is not too bad for the third line.

Hopefully JJ holds onto 4th line center, but we all know Baby G gets his old job back when healthy. Although perhaps we can play Gionta at wing instead of the meathead. Who cares, though, if that 4th line keeps scoring...
 

lboogie42*

Guest
Lol reading the first page of this thread and i was like whaaa? Then i realized it was started early october. Brunner has been terribad outside of the first 5 games.
 

devilsblood

Registered User
Mar 10, 2010
29,442
11,701
I hope you're right, otherwise I'd be fine with packaging him with a defenseman and shipping him out.


Too early for that imo. Given the acclimation process, there is still time for him to make that contract a bargain. And his value is probably really low right now(remember no one signed him all off season).
 

rtr1105

1995 • 2000 • 2003
Jan 26, 2013
1,371
18
New Jersey, USA
Brunner needs more space to work his skills. Cycling the puck in tight traffic does not open him up for the types of shots we saw early this year. I think he needs Elias to draw that traffic away from him and let him get more creative. Even last night we saw him try to make 2 moves and get a shot off in tight and it's just not his thing - he needs space at the top of the circle to rip one. Ryder I think it much like that too but seems to have a quicker release than Brunner so he can do it in a more confined piece of ice and move his body around the puck more than the puck around his body if that makes sense (Kovalev was a master at this).

You hit the nail right on the head. Brunner definitely has some good stick handling moves but he just hasn't been able to use them. The system hasn't helped him either. He's not going to excel playing along the boards and cycling the puck. There was one instance in tonight's Kings game where he had a path to the net, but there were a few backcheckers on his tail, and Scrivens poke checked the puck away when he tried to make a move. I haven't given up on him yet. He just needs space.
 

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