October 25th, 2024
Alex Rickman
After being acquired from the Colorado Avalanche in the trade that saw the Canucks shed the Tucker Poolam contract, Erik Brännström has put in nothing but solid performances at the NHL level in his 3 games as a Canuck. Providing a much-needed puck-moving presence on the bottom pair, the man known by some as ‘The Brännchise’ has proven himself to be a needed change of pace in a Canucks bottom four full of bigger, slower, defensive defencemen. Now, with Derek Forbort set to return from his brief absence, what can we expect to come next for Brännström?
We know that Rick Tocchet likes his physical defencemen, which may work against Brännström retaining a regular spot in the lineup. As a 5’10 185 lb defenceman whose skills are primarily on the offensive side of the game, Brännström is by no means your stereotypical Tocchet defenceman. Forbort, on the other hand, perfectly epitomises the kind of player Tocchet wants on his blue line. Knowing this, there is a world in which Brännström is relegated to the press box for the time being to make way for Derek Forbort to claim a spot alongside Vincent Desharnais on the bottom pair. With that being said, however, don’t expect Brännström to stay a healthy scratch for long should this be the case.
For their defensive capabilities, the Canucks bottom four defencemen all share a common weakness; none are gifted puck movers. They may be able to make good reads and provide much-needed physicality on defence, but if they need to get the puck out of the defensive zone cleanly to give the Canucks some relief, they will struggle. Brännström, on the other hand, is an excellent puck mover, giving the Canucks a different profile than they have from anyone else in their defensive depth. While he may have been prone to defensive errors and turnovers in his previous NHL experience, these issues have not yet crept into his game as a Canuck, so factoring in this with his puck-moving skills gives the Canucks bottom pair a valuable piece.
Beyond what Brännström has been doing on his own, offseason acquisition Vincent Desharnais has played his best hockey as a Canuck while partnered with Brännström as opposed to Forbort. Desharnais and Brännström are virtually exact opposite profiles, making them a good duo to partner up. While Desharnais may struggle to make the pass or carry the puck out to get the Canucks set up and off of the back foot, he is a reliable defensive player and can use his massive frame to make life hard for opposition forwards. Brännström, meanwhile, may still make the occasional defensive error, but can make the passes Desharnais can’t and gives the Canucks a defenceman not named Quinn Hughes or Filip Hronek who can contribute offensively. Compared to the one-dimensionality of a Forbort-Desharnais partnership, a bottom pair that includes Erik Brännström gives the Canucks a far more well-rounded defence.
Speaking to Brännström’s occasionally error-prone play, while this has yet to be a problem in his stay in Vancouver, this may change as he plays more games with this organization. However, a saving grace could be the work that Canucks assistant coaches Adam Foote and Sergei Gonchar have already done to work some of the mistakes out of other defencemen in Vancouver. Much like the work of the Panthers organization, the Canucks coaching staff have found a way time and time again to clean up the play of mistake-prone blueliners. If this can be done with Brännström, and his dynamic offensive play can be enhanced by a safer defensive game and more controlled risk-taking, this is a player who could potentially turn into a serious threat to earn a spot in the top four. Even if he doesn’t turn into a top four defenceman, however, Brännström could carve out an important niche for himself as a depth piece in Vancouver.
Ultimately, time will tell what the future has to hold for The Brännchise in Vancouver, but this is a player who has some real potential to flourish as a Canuck. In the event that Derek Forbort is given his spot in the lineup back at Brännström’s expense, don’t expect to see the Swede stay out for too long. While it may not be too common for a player to reinvent their career at 25 years of age, it’s not entirely unheard of, and Brännström could soon turn into a prime example of this.