Canucks: Erik Brannstrom's hope on the blue line

Article content

Naturally, the instinct of young defenders is that they have a hard time defending older players.

Article content

But then you watch the game and realize that's not exactly the case.

Take Erik Brannstrom, the skilled defenseman who was signed in a trade to the Vancouver Canucks on the eve of the season from the Colorado Avalanche. Brannstrom, simply put, is not tall.

“The soccer website showed me a clip today where he (Brannstrom) had a bigger man in the net and kicked him out. I mean, if he can do that, he'll stay in the lineup,” Canucks coach Rick Touchette said Friday after a practice at the University of British Columbia.

“I think he's getting better every game.”

Brännström had his chance because Derek Forbort is on personal leave. His first game against the Florida Panthers was mediocre (understandable for a player still in the early stages of learning the team's system), but in games two and three, in Philadelphia and Chicago, he played smartly under pressure, achieving both take the ball out of the field. danger zone. And finding teammates with great passes is also starting to stand out.

Article content

Brännström spent the last six seasons with the Ottawa Senators, often exciting with those puck skills, but he never developed into the better defensive player the Senators hoped he would be.

Ottawa could have offered him a qualifying offer after last season, but decided against it. After being rejected by Ottawa, he ended up signing with Colorado for much less than what he earned in Ottawa.

Needless to say, he didn't expect the team that signed him in the summer to trade him so quickly; It's been a summer full of reality checks for Brannstrom.

“Definitely a rollercoaster of emotions,” he said, but now it seems like he's getting to where he wants to be.

“It was hard,” he said of his retirement in Ottawa. “It's strange not to go back there after all these years. But I think it's time for me to go somewhere else. I think my game can explode more elsewhere.

Article content

He thought it would be in Colorado, but he's very happy that it looks like it's happening for him now in Vancouver.

“I felt very good these three games. “It's a lot of fun,” he said.

It takes time to adjust to the Canucks' system, which, under Touchette and assistant coach Adam Foote, is very complex, but he really likes the concept. They have certainly proven to be more attack-oriented than in Ottawa.

“We played a really fun style of hockey,” he said.

The fact that he moves the puck and that he's a guy who can play smart with the puck has always been obvious. He also gains the trust of his coach with these talents.

“There were about two or three times in the last game where he got out of trouble, you know, and didn't throw it off the glass. There were windows I could skate through. He did it,” Touchette said.

Article content

He then made a comparison that puts Brannstrom in solid company.

“Do you know how Hughes can do so many things? “I think (Branstrom) has a little bit of that,” the head coach said.

So far, Brannstrom has skated with Vincent Desharnais, an oddly sized pairing that even Brannstrom, who is generously listed as 5-foot-10, had to laugh at.

He added: “I was standing on the bench during the national anthem and I was between Vinnie and (Tyler) Myers. Yes, they are tall. “I feel younger than I really am,” he said.

The big question is what will happen when Forbort returns. The Canucks have enough cap space to keep Brännström on the NHL roster, so that's not a problem: it's just a matter of filling positions on the playing sheet.

Forbort shoots left. Brannstrom shoots left. In general, coaches do not like to change the left hand to the right.

But Brannstrom has proven to be an expert on the right side. As Touchet noted, the data he saw supports the idea of ​​turning Brannstrom to the right.

“This is something we can try,” the coach said.

[email protected]

Share this article on your social network