The Vancouver Canucks may have found a hidden gem in Erik Brannstrom.
The 25-year-old has been very impressive in the team’s defence group so far this year.
Brannstrom is a former first-round pick who failed to realize on his potential in previous stops. It seems he’s finally making good on some of that promise with his new team.
The Canucks are outscoring opponents 5-0 with Brannstrom on the ice at five-on-five so far. They’re also controlling 61.19% of the shots and 63.45% of the expected goals during those minutes, both stats taking second-best to only Quinn Hughes on the team.
The eye test has matched the impressive numbers. The undersized blueliner routinely makes stretch passes that few Canucks D-men — sans Hughes and Filip Hronek — can pull off.
The puck-moving that Brannstrom brings to the table is invaluable. The Canucks are scoring 4.65 goals-per-60-minutes with him on the ice at five-on-five, nearly a full goal better than any other defenceman on the team.
This is a player the Canucks pushed through waivers before the season started. Any of the other 31 NHL teams could’ve had him for free. He luckily cleared and is now looking like a very solid piece.
“There is a trust factor because I think his game has been coming,” said Rick Tocchet about Brannstrom today. “He has that ability to skate the puck out and make that one pass breakout.”
“In think even the offensive end, he’s going to get more comfortable so yeah, we’ve got to start chipping away, get him some more ice-time.”
While a few weeks ago common sense would have dictated that the return of Derek Forbort would knock Brannstrom out of the lineup, that seems far from ideal now.
The Canucks had Brannstrom on a pair with Noah Juulsen today at practice and the duo seems likely to dress tomorrow. Even when Forbort is ready to play again, Brannstrom will probably stay in the lineup.