Prospect Info: Hunter Brzustewicz: 75th Overall 2023 Draft (Kitchener) - RD

[Mr. Canucklehead]

Discuss.

EDIT:

EliteProspects Profile - Hunter Brzustewicz at eliteprospects.com

Rankings:
Ranked #53 by CONSOLIDATED RANKING
Ranked #52 by ELITEPROSPECTS.COM
Ranked #51 by FCHOCKEY
Ranked #54 by FLOHOCKEY/CHRIS PETERS
Ranked #58 by DAILY FACEOFF
Ranked #44 by THE HOCKEY NEWS
Ranked #52 by TSN/BOB McKENZIE
Ranked #66 by MCKEEN'S HOCKEY
Ranked #61 by TSN/CRAIG BUTTON
Ranked #41 by NHL CENTRAL SCOUTING (NA Skaters)
Ranked #82 by HPR/SHANE MALLOY
Ranked #48 by RECRUIT SCOUTING
Ranked #56 by DOBBERPROSPECTS
Ranked #32 by DRAFT PROSPECTS HOCKEY
Ranked #91 by SMAHT SCOUTING

Click to read more...

 

[nucksflailtogether]

Pionk might be a decent comparison?

 

[F A N]

Pionk might be a decent comparison?

I’m not so sure. Pionk didn’t do well as a Ranger in part due to the system they played. A key is that Pionk doesn’t and can’t play passively. He can close gaps and defend entries. He’s undersized but he hits and he blocks shots. These are the things those of us here not buying into Brew do not see him doing right now. The game is getting faster and Brew needs to up his intensity if he has a shot at defending at the NHL level.

 

[Lindgren]

Because it is New Year's Day and very little is going on I have rushed here to report that Hunter has an assist (secondary) with one period left in an afternoon OHL game.

 

[Vector]

 

[kranuck]

Hutson is a future bust. Will be a good AHL player though. We finally get a decent RD prospect in Brz
and everyone wants to trade him for a rental. I'd rather move the 1st round pick this year if we're going all in which I don't think we should be as there are still major holes on this roster.

I don't know why people want to "trade high" when we finally have a prospect having a ridiculous D+1 season.

Seems like exactly the sort of player you hold on to in hopes that he translates his new level of play. Even if it takes a few years.

Unless they can make a trade for a good young player. I wouldn't trade him for a Toffoli type deal. A guy who will either walk or be paid a ton. makes no sense for this team.

 

[Lindgren]

I don't know why people want to "trade high" when we finally have a prospect having a ridiculous D+1 season.

Seems like exactly the sort of player you hold on to in hopes that he translates his new level of play. Even if it takes a few years.

Unless they can make a trade for a good young player. I wouldn't trade him for a Toffoli type deal. A guy who will either walk or be paid a ton. makes no sense for this team.

Rightly or wrongly, the people advocating for such a trade think that the Canucks have a window that's about to open, and that it'll close again very quickly. You probably disagree with that thinking, but now you know "why."

 

[VanJack]

According to an interview with Canucks Army, Brzustewicz was seriously bummed out by not even receiving an invitation to attend the U.S. World Jr. training camp.

Hard not to conclude that U.S.-born players who come north to play in the CHL, enter some sort Bermuda Triangle when it comes to the U.S. Selection Committee. I hope he uses it as motivation for the rest of this season.

 

[Petey But Really Jim]

According to an interview with Canucks Army, Brzustewicz was seriously bummed out by not even receiving an invitation to attend the U.S. World Jr. training camp.

Hard not to conclude that U.S.-born players who come north to play in the CHL, enter some sort Bermuda Triangle when it comes to the U.S. Selection Committee. I hope he uses it as motivation for the rest of this season.

Let's hope he's got some Mikael Samuelsson in him.

 

[Petey But Really Jim]

Rightly or wrongly, the people advocating for such a trade think that the Canucks have a window that's about to open, and that it'll close again very quickly. You probably disagree with that thinking, but now you know "why."

It isn't even a hard concept. They have elite players. Nobody should question that. They are missing just about everything else. Next year maybe they choose wrong on their ufa signings. Then what? Oh no not perfect and no organizational depth to cover? If only we could have seen that happening ahead of time. LOL.

 

[MarkusNaslund19]

Rightly or wrongly, the people advocating for such a trade think that the Canucks have a window that's about to open, and that it'll close again very quickly. You probably disagree with that thinking, but now you know "why."

Many of those people are the same people who were absolutely convinced that we needed to throw in the towel and do a complete tank like 4 months ago. They're reactionaries. The idea of 'going all in' right now is insane and something that isn't in the realm of possibility unless we had a catastrophically stupid owner (yes) who was feeling personally injured like Calgary's owner (no) into doing something dumb and shortsighted.

The fact that we are adding Willander, Lekkerimaki, EP2, Raty, Bains, etc to this roster means that we can continue to build on what we have even while absorbing the two bad years of the OEL buyout.

 

[ChilliBilly]

Many of those people are the same people who were absolutely convinced that we needed to throw in the towel and do a complete tank like 4 months ago. They're reactionaries. The idea of 'going all in' right now is insane and something that isn't in the realm of possibility unless we had a catastrophically stupid owner (yes) who was feeling personally injured like Calgary's owner (no) into doing something dumb and shortsighted.

The fact that we are adding Willander, Lekkerimaki, EP2, Raty, Bains, etc to this roster means that we can continue to build on what we have even while absorbing the two bad years of the OEL buyout.

Thank you. We have been a ridiculously bad team for 10 years, and all of a sudden we are going to go "all in", and completely forget about the future. I don't mean to offend anyone (actually I do), but this is incredibly stupid and short sighted. None of the consistent Stanley Cup contenders ever do this.

I have no problem trading our 1st at the TDL for something that will help. But do not trade our top 5 assets (Podz, Willander, Lekkerimaki, Brz or EP2) for some short term rental when we are going to have major problems signing the FA's that we have (or RFA in EP).

I would do the opposite, trade Hronek before the TDL because he is just going to want too much money.

 

[JanBulisPiggyBack]

Thank you. We have been a ridiculously bad team for 10 years, and all of a sudden we are going to go "all in", and completely forget about the future. I don't mean to offend anyone (actually I do), but this is incredibly stupid and short sighted. None of the consistent Stanley Cup contenders ever do this.

I have no problem trading our 1st at the TDL for something that will help. But do not trade our top 5 assets (Podz, Willander, Lekkerimaki, Brz or EP2) for some short term rental when we are going to have major problems signing the FA's that we have (or RFA in EP).

I would do the opposite, trade Hronek before the TDL because he is just going to want too much money.

agreed with everything except the Hronek part.....that is the equivalent of throwing away this season

 

[ChilliBilly]

agreed with everything except the Hronek part.....that is the equivalent of throwing away this season

Understood ... but there have been so many times we have lamented not getting any value for assets.

I would not likely do it either, but that all depends on how we do for the next 6 weeks or so. For example, if we go 1 - 6 on this road trip ... vs if we fo 5 -2 or 4 - 3.

If we are legit and really think we have a chance to do something in the playoffs this year, we had better at least play .500 on this road trip. I personally will be fine wth us going anywhere from 4 - 2 - 1 or 3 - 2 - 2 to 3 - 3 -1.

I don't think anyone realistically expects us to get 12 - 14 points out of this road trip.

 

[sandwichbird2023]

Understood ... but there have been so many times we have lamented not getting any value for assets.

I would not likely do it either, but that all depends on how we do for the next 6 weeks or so. For example, if we go 1 - 6 on this road trip ... vs if we fo 5 -2 or 4 - 3.

If we are legit and really think we have a chance to do something in the playoffs this year, we had better at least play .500 on this road trip. I personally will be fine wth us going anywhere from 4 - 2 - 1 or 3 - 2 - 2 to 3 - 3 -1.

I don't think anyone realistically expects us to get 12 - 14 points out of this road trip.

Even if we go 1-6 this road trip, you can't just trade away the #2D in the middle of a pretty good season. We are likely playoff bound with SJ, Ana, Cgy basically out already, we are way ahead of the 3 teams likely to fight for the wild card spots in Edm, Sea and Ari. It is very unlikely that we miss the playoff, you can't trade away a key piece like Hronek now, just like you can't trade away Boeser now even if you believe he will regress after his hot start. It sends a horrible message to the players, and essentially wipe out all the hard work they put in this season.

As for Brzustewicz, I wouldn't dump him for a 2nd round pick or something like that. But I do think he has a lot to overcome to be an NHL player, so I would be open to trading him if it helps the NHL roster. Maybe not for a rental (depending who the rental is I guess?), but for a younger NHL player, or somebody with term, and is a fit for the team? I wouldn't be opposed to including HB to get the deal done.

 

[VanJack]

If Brzustewicz follows a similar career path as most kids drafted in the third round, he's going to need some time in Abbotsford.

And because it takes d-men longer to mature, he might need two or three years in the AHL. But it's hard to find a single third-rounder in Canucks draft history, who went back to his junior club and lit it up like this player in his draft-plus-one season.

And isn't that the kind of prospect you're hoping to uncover in the third round?

 

[Tables of Stats]

This isn't going to be a popular view.

Much as we should be pleased with the production this season from Brzustewicz, it seems to me that people are placing too much reliance on his junior scoring. It is a very good sign, but whatever reasons he lasted until the Canucks took him in the 3rd round are not necessarily answered.

I too am happy about this season's production from Brzustewicz. It is a very good sign. However, one thing we've seen frequently through the years is that scoring in junior doesn't necessarily mean that a player is a good pro or international tournament candidate.

Sometimes when someone who scores a lot is passed over those passing him over are wrong and he turns out to be a good pro. More often when someone is passed over those passing him over have seen something that is real and there is a reason for it. Remember the famous line from a gm touted as an expert scout saying "why isn't anyone taking Kole Lind?"

Remember Dane Fox, a free agent steal for the Canucks when they signed him in 2013, when he then went on to lead the OHL in goals for the season, who followed that up playing three seasons in the ECHL, not good enough for a cup of coffee in the NHL and only 3 games in the AHL before he went to Europe?

I took a random WHL season, long enough ago to have players now in the NHL. In 2017-2018 the leading defenceman in scoring was David Quenneville, who had 80 points in 70 games that season and went on to play 31 AHL regular season games in between stints in the ECHL before heading to Europe with no NHL games. The top four scorers in the league that season were Jayden Halbgewachs (24 NHL games, now in Europe), Glenn Gawdin (who has had several tries in the NHL but mostly played in the AHL, where he has been exclusively this season), Aleksi Heponiemi (who has been an AHL player who got into 25 NHL games and is now playing in Europe,) Brayden Burke (who was an AHL part timer for 5 seasons before heading to Europe), Matthew Phillips (mostly AHL but this season playing in the NHL for the Capitals with 4 points in 16 games played) and Tyler Steenbergen (3 part time seasons in the AHL before he too went to Europe.)

We should be delighted that Brzustewicz is having a good season. Much as we can take the scoring as a sign of hope that he will become a good pro, we should not make the mistake of expecting that because he is a very good WHL scorer he will necessarily make a good NHL player nor even necessarily a good international junior best on best tournament player.

I'm not down on him at all. I'm just seeing what seems to me to be the sort of unrealistic expectations about the likelihood of pro success we saw about Dane Fox, Jordan Subban, Cole Cassels (touted on these boards as our McDavid defender) and others.

So what are the areas Brzustewicz needs to work on? You claim the questions aren't answered yet but haven't even stated what the questions are, much less how he's failing to answer them.

EDIT: I didn't realize I was a few pages back.

 

[VanJack]

Agreed that Brzustewicz's stats are inflated because he plays on the most dynamic offensive team in the OHL.

I doubt he'll ever be able to come close to replicating those stats when he turns pro. But having an offensive d-man like that in your system builds depth in your prospect pool. And can set up trade possibilities down the road.

 

[F A N]

But it's hard to find a single third-rounder in Canucks draft history, who went back to his junior club and lit it up like this player in his draft-plus-one season.

Technically, he didn't "went back to his junior club" but Connauton would be a good career.

Speaking of Connauton, he has manged to eek out quite an NHL career. Essentially 8 seasons of being on an NHL roster (with very little time spent in the AHL (until last season) while having played only 360 regular season games.

 

[tyhee]

So what are the areas Brzustewicz needs to work on? You claim the questions aren't answered yet but haven't even stated what the questions are, much less how he's failing to answer them.

EDIT: I didn't realize I was a few pages back.

My recollection of the scouting reports on Brzustewicz was essentially (not unanimously):

Strengths:
-skating mobility and edges
-playmaking (he had excellent assist totals in 2022-2023)
-active stick defending
-moving the puck in transition

Areas that needed work:
-skating speed (not weak at junior level but not good either)
-defending the rush against fast players (trouble being beaten wide or leaving large gaps)
-lack of power on shot
-defensive positioning when the opposition had sustained pressure

Some things from some reports that weren't consistent in others: some reports rated him fairly low for physicality, he generally wasn't rated well in penalty killing and there were conflicting reports about his consistency. There were some reports that mentioned him being too aggressive pinching resulting in odd man breaks against, though at least one report suggested he wasn't aggressive at joining the play.

His very high assist totals this season indicate he's strengthened what was already a strength. They say little about the power in his shot, his defensive positioning under pressure, his gap control nor his straight line speed. I'm really looking forward to seeing how he does in the AHL next season, which imo will be a far better indicator of his NHL future than his scoring totals this year.

It is definitely a good sign that Brzustrewicz is not stagnating and is having a remarkable offensive season. I'm just very, very wary of placing much importance on gaudy junior scoring totals.

 

[ginner classic]

If Brzustewicz follows a similar career path as most kids drafted in the third round, he's going to need some time in Abbotsford.

And because it takes d-men longer to mature, he might need two or three years in the AHL. But it's hard to find a single third-rounder in Canucks draft history, who went back to his junior club and lit it up like this player in his draft-plus-one season.

And isn't that the kind of prospect you're hoping to uncover in the third round?

Yeah I mean Forsling is the perfect example of looking a gift horse in the mouth. Letting your winners keep winning is often the hardest thing in investing. Also true in this context.

Even if we go 1-6 this road trip, you can't just trade away the #2D in the middle of a pretty good season. We are likely playoff bound with SJ, Ana, Cgy basically out already, we are way ahead of the 3 teams likely to fight for the wild card spots in Edm, Sea and Ari. It is very unlikely that we miss the playoff, you can't trade away a key piece like Hronek now, just like you can't trade away Boeser now even if you believe he will regress after his hot start. It sends a horrible message to the players, and essentially wipe out all the hard work they put in this season.

As for Brzustewicz, I wouldn't dump him for a 2nd round pick or something like that. But I do think he has a lot to overcome to be an NHL player, so I would be open to trading him if it helps the NHL roster. Maybe not for a rental (depending who the rental is I guess?), but for a younger NHL player, or somebody with term, and is a fit for the team? I wouldn't be opposed to including HB to get the deal done.

So the Clendening deall al over again?

 

[sandwichbird2023]

Yeah I mean Forsling is the perfect example of looking a gift horse in the mouth. Letting your winners keep winning is often the hardest thing in investing. Also true in this context.



So the Clendening deall al over again?

No faith in the pro-scouting team that has acquired a bunch of good players?

 

[MS]

Yeah I mean Forsling is the perfect example of looking a gift horse in the mouth. Letting your winners keep winning is often the hardest thing in investing. Also true in this context.



So the Clendening deall al over again?

The problem with the Forsling deal was much less the trading of Forsling and more the terrible pro scouting on the guy they traded him for.

 

[BoHorvat 53]

No faith in the pro-scouting team that has acquired a bunch of good players?

Not a lack of faith in the pro scouts, but why take the chance of getting burned again like we did on Forsling who has now been a bonafide top pairing defenseman from the beginning of last season and can play both sides. If a prospect is developing well, why are we in a rush to get rid of him? Let him simmer and give him a chance in the league down the road.

 

[sandwichbird2023]

Not a lack of faith in the pro scouts, but why take the chance of getting burned again like we did on Forsling who has now been a bonafide top pairing defenseman from the beginning of last season and can play both sides. If a prospect is developing well, why are we in a rush to get rid of him? Let him simmer and give him a chance in the league down the road.

Not really dumping him if we are trading him for a piece on the big club and a guy with term. Go back to my original post, I'm not advocating trading him for a pick or random rental. But if he can be used as a key piece to return a top 4D or top 6 winger with term, that is a different story.

 

[JanBulisPiggyBack]

Congratulations Hunter on your “would be” Gold Medal