Player Discussion Erik Brännström |5'10, 181lbs | Left Handed Defenceman

[HSF]

He Is only 20 years old

Dude is going to be a top pairing defensemen

 

[Agent Zub]

Dorion said on the radio today that it really only matters what the coach and gm think and they want him playing the left side.

Lol classic Dorion

 

[Cosmix]

Maybe Ottawa gets lucky & he grows another 3 to 6 inches & puts on about 30 lbs. haha

I did the pounds bit, so he should be able to do that too!

 

[Cosmix]

It is hard enough for 20 year old players that are 6'+ to break into the NHL and become a physical presence you think a 5'9 player at that age is going to dominate physically?

Common sense, where for art thou gone?

No I do not. The outstanding issue is whether his other skills will be sufficient to compensate for lack of size and strength. Further development is required. He has improved and I hope he continues to do so.

 

[supsens]

He is 5 10 and 180 he does not need more than ten pounds to be a tank out there. He is going to gain muscle mass and bone mass for at least another 5 years. If he can get closer to 200 pounds at the age of 25....good luck moving him out of the way

 

[supsens]

He is 5 10 and 180 he does not need more than ten pounds to be a tank out there. He is going to gain muscle mass and bone mass for at least another 5 years. If he can get closer to 200 pounds at the age of 25....good luck moving him out of the way

2 assists and 4 shots today. He is so close to being a NHL player the AHL is easy for him
8 points in 6 games.

 

[18Hossa]

Seems like he's better on the right side

 

[bert]

Seems like he's better on the right side

Dont tell the most important people in the organization that!

 

[Sweatred]

Dont tell the most important people in the organization that!

Maybe ... just maybe DJ is aware of that and wants to develop a young dman who can play both sides of the ice including his forehand board side.

 

[OD99]

I think what Brannstrom thinks matters too.

I think where he is most effective should trump where the GM and Coach wish he was most effective.

 

[TheDebater]

I think where he is most effective should trump where the GM and Coach wish he was most effective.

So trying to teach a young player to become more complete at a young age is now a bad thing? Just proves the organization is taking its time with Brannstrom and want him to become the best he can be.

 

[OD99]

So trying to teach a young player to become more complete at a young age is now a bad thing? Just proves the organization is taking its time with Brannstrom and want him to become the best he can be.

I didn't say anything about being a complete player is bad.

If he excels at RD he should be developed as a complete player on that side.

We have Wolanin coming back on LD as well and need more RD anyway.

Did you agree with Chabot being played RD when he came up? He struggled and instantly played better when moved back to LD.

 

[supsens]

I didn't say anything about being a complete player is bad.

If he excels at RD he should be developed as a complete player on that side.

We have Wolanin coming back on LD as well and need more RD anyway.

Did you agree with Chabot being played RD when he came up? He struggled and instantly played better when moved back to LD.

If they decide he should play on the right they are still going to need him to understands he has a boss and a team and he has to work and try just as hard on both sides of the ice. I have not seen him complain about the left side yet anyway so it’s no big deal.
It’s not like they have to keep him on the same side forever but at the age of 20 they really should work on his weakness

 

[bert]

So trying to teach a young player to become more complete at a young age is now a bad thing? Just proves the organization is taking its time with Brannstrom and want him to become the best he can be.

Right over your head.

 

[Sweatred]

Right over your head.

I totally disagree. Why would you not want to develop a young player are broadly as possible. Defense is a dynamic, fluid position. Most elite D will play both sides of defense at some point (PP vs PK, defending a lead etc). Brann is a left shot D who should have some confidence on his left side. It is good that he spends time on both sides. The org had him playing a lot of RD in Belleville last weekend.

 

[Do Make Say Think]

I think where he is most effective should trump where the GM and Coach wish he was most effective.

Not at 20 years old.

Maybe he never finds his groove on the left side but we probably are better off if he does. It is worth trying it now.

 

[Micklebot]

I totally disagree. Why would you not want to develop a young player are broadly as possible. Defense is a dynamic, fluid position. Most elite D will play both sides of defense at some point (PP vs PK, defending a lead etc). Brann is a left shot D who should have some confidence on his left side. It is good that he spends time on both sides. The org had him playing a lot of RD in Belleville last weekend.

Most D in the league play very sparingly on their off side if at all. This situation is a bit unusual in that Brannstrom seems to play better on his off side, and perhaps prefers it but while there are some guys that play both or prefer their off-side, it's not the norm.

It certainly isn't common practice for teams to play their young D on both sides or to purposefully put them on their off side for developmental purposes. I think framing this as developing the player as broadly as possible or as a smart developmental choice is a bit odd. I suspect they just prefer other options on the right side and that's all there is to it.

 

[Sweatred]

Most D in the league play very sparingly on their off side if at all. This situation is a bit unusual in that Brannstrom seems to play better on his off side, and perhaps prefers it but while there are some guys that play both or prefer their off-side, it's not the norm.

It certainly isn't common practice for teams to play their young D on both sides or to purposefully put them on their off side for developmental purposes. I think framing this as developing the player as broadly as possible or as a smart developmental choice is a bit odd. I suspect they just prefer other options on the right side and that's all there is to it.

Sure it is. Chabot plays LD and sometimes RD on the PP etc. Lots of players switch during the PP too lineup an off wing shot or passing lane.

 

[Micklebot]

Not at 20 years old.

Maybe he never finds his groove on the left side but we probably are better off if he does. It is worth trying it now.

Teams depth in the system suggest short term, he's ideally a Right side D.

Chabot and Wolanin on the left, Zaitsev on the right.

DeMelo and Hainsey likely gone at the deadline, but if DeMelo sticks, I see him as a bottom pair guy.

Lajoie looks like a potential bottom pair guy on the left, Boro may or may not be back.

I suppose Brannstrom could slot in ahead of Wolanin when healthy, there's a bit of a question mark with him after the injury.

Long term though, JBD and Thomson are right side D, along with Jaros who seems close so there's a potential log jam everywhere.

 

[Micklebot]

Sure it is. Chabot plays LD and sometimes RD on the PP etc. Lots of players switch during the PP too lineup an off wing shot or passing lane.

Playing your off side on the PP isn't what's being discussed with Brannstrom, that's not remotely relevant.

 

[Sweatred]

Playing your off side on the PP isn't what's being discussed with Brannstrom, that's not remotely relevant.

Ehhhh .. Where did I say it was? Again, the point you are missing, ignoring, or unaware of is there is value in training DMAN to play both strong and weak sides. Bran's strong side my be his off side which means training his weak side concurrently with his strong side development is valuable.

Again, I think you are just arguing. How could you suggest developing a 20 year old's weakness isn't a good idea. If you have a goalie that is bad at handling the puck would you just ignore puck development ?

Utilizing the Defenseman’s “Off” Hand: A Discussion of Theory and an Empirical Review

 

[OD99]

Of course it makes sense to have all players practice all positions (well...not goalies...THAT would be ridiculous!) so they can be more well rounded.

Being in the NHL generally means a player is world class at 1 position and they need to refine that skill as much as possible.

Not sure but I doubt many teams have the time or inclination to have their players practice on their off-side for the express purpose of them perhaps playing that position.

They may run drills from both sides of the ice time-to-time but that isn't practicing a new position.

 

[Sweatred]

Of course it makes sense to have all players practice all positions (well...not goalies...THAT would be ridiculous!) so they can be more well rounded.

Being in the NHL generally means a player is world class at 1 position and they need to refine that skill as much as possible.

Not sure but I doubt many teams have the time or inclination to have their players practice on their off-side for the express purpose of them perhaps playing that position.

They may run drills from both sides of the ice time-to-time but that isn't practicing a new position.

Duclair is playing and practicing at both RW and LW with the Sens. White has been at C and RW, Brown21 at LW, LD, & C and will likely have a RW setup on a future PP. The Sens are in teaching and development mode.

 

[Micklebot]

Ehhhh .. Where did I say it was?

Oh, so you were responding to me with irrelevant points? Good to know, I'll keep that in mind in the future...

Again, the point you are missing, ignoring, or unaware of is there is value in training DMAN to play both strong and weak sides. Bran's strong side my be his off side which means training his weak side concurrently with his strong side development is valuable.

Sure, it's valuable to be able to play both sides in a pinch, this is more common with left handed D too (though still not the norm), because there are fewer RHD. It is odd to see a player that typically plays RD to be put on the left though.

There's a reason why playing D on their off side creates discussion both on boards like these and in the media; it's because it is out of the norm. Most teams seem to see focusing on developing player in the role they will play long term as more valuable than cross training thiem in multiple roles. You don't see wingers get played as centers, you might see them play their off wing a bit if there is a shortage of guys to play that side.

Again, I think you are just arguing. How could you suggest developing a 20 year old's weakness isn't a good idea. If you have a goalie that is bad at handling the puck would you just ignore puck development ?

Utilizing the Defenseman’s “Off” Hand: A Discussion of Theory and an Empirical Review

I think you're projecting. All I was doing was suggesting an alternate explanation to why the team is playing Brannstrom in the left. I think it's far more likely than the "training him to play both sides" theory given there isn't much of a history in the league of doing so on any wide scale. If you want to see that as arguing for the sake of arguing, so be it.

Thanks for posting that article btw, it's an interesting read though a bit different from what's going on with Brannstrom; the articles talking about playing RHD on the left and LHD on the right vs the traditional way. The suggestion seems to be there is an advantage offensively, but not much of a detriment defensively if at all in the drills they ran. In Branstrom's case, he's already playing the off side as his norm, so reverting back to the traditional way would just lose the offensive benefit and not really improve things defensively.

 

[Sweatred]

Oh, so you were responding to me with irrelevant points? Good to know, I'll keep that in mind in the future...



Sure, it's valuable to be able to play both sides in a pinch, this is more common with left handed D too (though still not the norm), because there are fewer RHD. It is odd to see a player that typically plays RD to be put on the left though.

There's a reason why playing D on their off side creates discussion both on boards like these and in the media; it's because it is out of the norm. Most teams seem to see focusing on developing player in the role they will play long term as more valuable than cross training thiem in multiple roles. You don't see wingers get played as centers, you might see them play their off wing a bit if there is a shortage of guys to play that side.



I think you're projecting. All I was doing was suggesting an alternate explanation to why the team is playing Brannstrom in the left. I think it's far more likely than the "training him to play both sides" theory given there isn't much of a history in the league of doing so on any wide scale. If you want to see that as arguing for the sake of arguing, so be it.

Thanks for posting that article btw, it's an interesting read though a bit different from what's going on with Brannstrom; the articles talking about playing RHD on the left and LHD on the right vs the traditional way. The suggestion seems to be there is an advantage offensively, but not much of a detriment defensively if at all in the drills they ran. In Branstrom's case, he's already playing the off side as his norm, so reverting back to the traditional way would just lose the offensive benefit and not really improve things defensively.

Moving on from arguing …. My take on the article had defensive advantages too as dman escape a classic inside out forecheck etc. I do think in Bran's good side is his weak side so for the sake of the article we should switch strong and weak sides. I also think DJ's view of how Brann challenges forwards, takes away lanes, and breaks out of his own end is different than the offensive off side puck handling Brann does in the offensive end. DJ may not like the way be presents below the goal line from his off side etc.

Really what I am saying is I think we all watch him in the neutral and offensive zone on his off side and may not be picking up on strong side/weak side issue in his own end.