RD Brennan Menell - Dinamo Minsk, KHL (2016 Undrafted)

[37 others]

I didn't see a post for him. Second in the WHL for points by a defenseman, first in assists. Granted, he played on a high-scoring Lethbridge team, but still put up 53 points the year prior, tied for third in scoring on the Vancouver giants and first in points by a defenseman on that team.

Has anyone watched him play?

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[NarcoPolo]

I didn't see a post for him. Second in the WHL for points by a defenseman, first in assists. Granted, he played on a high-scoring Lethbridge team, but still put up 53 points the year prior, tied for third in scoring on the Vancouver giants and first in points by a defenseman on that team.

Has anyone watched him play?

I've seen him play last year a few times on Vancouver. A little bit undersized but he's an effecient puck mover and is one of the better defensemen in the dub when it comes to quarterbacking a powerplay. I don't think he has a future in the NHL however. Last season he requested a trade out of Vancouver because he had lost his passion for the game and thought a trade to a new team would help reignite it.

 

[37 others]

I've seen him play last year a few times on Vancouver. A little bit undersized but he's an effecient puck mover and is one of the better defensemen in the dub when it comes to quarterbacking a powerplay. I don't think he has a future in the NHL however. Last season he requested a trade out of Vancouver because he had lost his passion for the game and thought a trade to a new team would help reignite it.

Interesting. I wonder if playing on a better team this year has helped. I guess it's always tough to tell whether a player will still improve, no matter how good he may be now.

 

[Skinnyjimmy08]

Good player but his head really isnt into playing. I honestly wouldnt doubt if he just stops playing hockey and moves on with his life. Alot of players get that 20 year old fear in the offseason before their 20 year old season starts and like to leave on their own terms and not possibly be traded or potentially be cut and miss out on going to CIS that year. I truly will be curious what he does cause he would be a valuable 20 year old in the league

 

[tcat84]

So he signed on with the Iowa Wild and has 13 points in 31 GP. Obviously he reignited some passion if he signed a pro deal. Be interesting to see what happens in the future for him

 

[37 others]

Recalled to the Wild after a good start in the AHL!

 

[57special]

"Good start" is underselling it. He had 44pts in 70gp in AHL last year, and 19 pts. in 23gp this year. Thats pretty crazy production from an undrafted, undersized, RHD. Could he be the next Spurgeon?

Who knows if he can be effective in the NHL, and the Wild D are loaded with offensive talent(Suter, Spurgeon, Dumba, Hunt), which will make it hard for him to stay up even if he is good enough. Only reason he is up is because Spurgeon (RHD) is injured.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

It doesn’t look like he’s ever played for the USA in any international junior tournaments. I always found it fascinating when these players make it to the NHL. There usually are very few, among the Americans, who debut in the NHL, having never played internationally. I suspect the number is slightly higher for Canadians.

 

[tealhockey]

It doesn’t look like he’s ever played for the USA in any international junior tournaments. I always found it fascinating when these players make it to the NHL. There usually are very few, among the Americans, who debut in the NHL, having never played internationally. I suspect the number is slightly higher for Canadians.

I was scouting him for a while in youth hockey, he never displayed a super high ceiling in my opinion but had a very solid foundation, thought he could have been good in college. Was surprised when he signed for major junior. Tough kid, good athlete with offensive upside.. good for him on grinding it out and proving it at the next level

 

[57special]

Menell led the AHL last year in PPG for Dmen, and was second in points overall by a Dman. He had 47 in 57gp, Bean 48 in 59gp. He decided to go to Dinamo Minsk of the KHL this year rather than rely on the AHL having a season, which seems to be a pretty good decision considering the announcement that they are delaying the start till Feb. 5. Despite missing games due to Covid, he is playing at PPG(13 pts/13 gp) and logging 25min TOI per game.

I think he has a good chance to get a spot on the Wild next year as a 3rd pairing/PP guy. Maybe he can pick up a few words of Russian and he and Kaprizov can gab.

 

[Nharris31]

Minnesota has his rights still

 

[MNRube]

He continues to be underestimated. He has now dominated both the AHL and KHL and he looked very solid in his call ups to Minnesota. This is a guy who can be a 2nd pairing dman and is already good enough to play on the 3rd pair.

Suter-Spurgeon
Brodin-Menell
Soucy-Addison

Wild really should be happy that they have 2 solid internal replacements for Dumba.

 

[Garl]

He continues to be underestimated. He has now dominated both the AHL and KHL and he looked very solid in his call ups to Minnesota. This is a guy who can be a 2nd pairing dman and is already good enough to play on the 3rd pair.

Suter-Spurgeon
Brodin-Menell
Soucy-Addison

Wild really should be happy that they have 2 solid internal replacements for Dumba.

He dominates in KHL? Really?

 

[MNRube]

He dominates in KHL? Really?

PPG from blueline.

 

[Dirtyf1ghter]

By far the best +/- of his team too.

 

[57special]

"Dominates" is a pretty strong word. He is playing 25 minutes per night, and is PPG in the KHL, albeit on a weaker team. He might get less opportunity on a team like CSKA. I think you could safely say that he is a first pairing D there, who skews offensively. He appears to be a smart, opportunistic player.

He has had two productive years in the AHL before this, so we aren't talking about a flash in the pan.

MN's strong top 5 and the contract situation with their remaining D such as Pateryn made it unlikely that he would make the team this year unless there are injuries or a trade, but he has a very good chance to make the team next year if his good play continues. He will have to fight it out with Addison, another offensively skilled RHD prospect, though.

 

[MNRube]

I think Menell definitely would have made the team. He would be on the 3rd pair with Soucy.

 

[16thOverallSaveUs]

At 21 years old he put up 44 points in 70 games in the AHL. At 22 he put up 47 points in 57 games in the AHL. Now, at 23, he’s a ppg defenseman in the KHL. He gets underrated because he went undrafted. His numbers are very good

 

[Garl]

PPG from blueline.

So what? Just because a player scores a lot doesn't mean that he dominates anything, look at Matthew Maione, or at guys like Li and Byvaltsev couple of years ago, when they scored a ton for a weak team, and then both were not good enough for a roster spot on a good team, KHL is not NHL, it is structured much more like european soccer leagues.

Menell is playing for a weak team, that hugely relies on foreign players, he has huge amount of ice-time and has all opportunities to score his points, but being a top player on a bad team doesn't mean he dominates the league.

 

[Garl]

By far the best +/- of his team too.

He missed a lot of games, and he played when the team was on a hot streak.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

He missed a lot of games, and he played when the team was on a hot streak.

Yeah, the team was on a hot streak when he played. And lost a lot more often when he didn't. Hmm.

 

[SoundAndFury]

My take on this whole debacle:

1. Minsk isn't a bad team although they obviously rely on the foreigners to be decent, much like Barys did for years.
2. Menell is one of the imports that make that team good. He is a good player at the KHL level.
3. He isn't dominating the league much like I wouldn't say Dallman ever dominated it despite being very productive. Menell is good at his job and scores a ton on PP but Minsk's defense was garbage even when they were winning. He was on the ice for 9 conceded goals in 13 games at even strength. With a more defense-minded coach he would be playing 18 minutes per game, not 25.
4. All things considered I don't believe Minsk's hot streak has much to do with Menell's ability to be productive. He will score points and the team will score goals even if they start losing games. Because their coach believes in winning/losing 5-4, not 3-2.

In conclusion, his stats are rather inflated in the KHL context and he isn't dominating the league. But he is good and is doing the job trusted on him very well. Minsk is a really good team this year and he is one of the players making it good so you can definitely make a point he is at the very least above average KHL player in that role.

 

[MNRube]

So what? Just because a player scores a lot doesn't mean that he dominates anything, look at Matthew Maione, or at guys like Li and Byvaltsev couple of years ago, when they scored a ton for a weak team, and then both were not good enough for a roster spot on a good team, KHL is not NHL, it is structured much more like european soccer leagues.

Menell is playing for a weak team, that hugely relies on foreign players, he has huge amount of ice-time and has all opportunities to score his points, but being a top player on a bad team doesn't mean he dominates the league.

PPG from the blueline is nothing to scoff at. Especially for a guy with almost no NHL experience and one who just showed up in Eastern Europe a few weeks ago.

My point is that eventually he is going to have to be given the respect he deserves. He has proven an elite producer in the AHL and now the KHL. Nobody is saying he is Brodin defensively but you also don’t hear about him being a huge liability on that end either.

He is, to me, a classic case of a guy who slipped through the cracks. A Minnesota kid who played juniors in Western Canada is an abnormal development path and also he plays a subtle game that isn’t flashy. He had a quiet rise to stardom in the AHL and now he’s over scoring at a PPG pace in the KHL.

I think he was offended that Minnesota didn’t give him a look during the Bubble and I don’t blame him. He wanted to keep improving so he went to a foreign country during a pandemic to keep working on his game. It’s hard not to cheer for this kid.

 

[SoundAndFury]

PPG from the blueline is nothing to scoff at. Especially for a guy with almost no NHL experience and one who just showed up in Eastern Europe a few weeks ago.

I mostly agree with what you say but the list of the guys who went close to PPG in the KHL season: Hersley, Dietz, Maione, Chris Lee, Koltsov, Mamashev, Dallman.. That's pretty much the list of guys who shouldn't be anywhere near the NHL roster.

The big difference is Menell is pretty young unlike most of these guys but my point is, KHL D point production really isn't the metric anyone should be basing their NHL hopes on.

 

[57special]

Well said.