{"id":9905,"date":"2017-05-17T08:00:07","date_gmt":"2017-05-17T12:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com?p=9905&#038;preview=true&#038;preview_id=9905"},"modified":"2017-05-17T01:38:49","modified_gmt":"2017-05-17T05:38:49","slug":"2017-nhl-draft-erik-brannstrom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2017\/05\/17\/2017-nhl-draft-erik-brannstrom\/","title":{"rendered":"2017 NHL Draft: Erik Brannstrom Deserves More Attention"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><strong>Welcome back to Top Shelf Prospects, the daily column that brings you the next crop of professional hockey players. Each day LWOHP will bring you a new player profile or topical article in the lead-up to the 2017 NHL Draft. Be sure to bookmark the site, <a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/MarkoLWOS\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">follow me on Twitter<\/a>, and spread the word for the site that will bring you analytical and critical profiles and scouting reports! Last Word On Hockey Prospects\u00a0is your new headquarters for everything \u201cNHL Draft\u201d! We have a complete listing of our <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockeyprospects.com\/2017-nhl-entry-draft-headquarters\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">draft articles here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<h2>2017 NHL Draft: Erik Brannstrom Deserves More Attention<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/2012\/07\/30\/top-shelf-prospects-colorado-avalanche\/topshelfprospects\/\" target=\"_self\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-9613 td-animation-stack-type0-2\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2012\/08\/TopShelfProspects-300x119.jpg\" alt=\"TopShelfProspects\" width=\"300\" height=\"119\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The emergence of <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockeyprospects.com\/2017\/04\/11\/miro-heiskanen-scouting-report-2017-nhl-draft-13\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Miro Heiskanen<\/strong><\/a> and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockeyprospects.com\/2017\/04\/07\/cale-makar-scouting-report-2017-nhl-draft-9\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cale Makar<\/a><\/strong>, combined with the fall of <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockeyprospects.com\/2017\/04\/01\/timothy-liljegren-scouting-report-2017-nhl-draft-4\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Timothy Liljegren<\/a><\/strong>, has veered attention away from another promising young Swedish defenseman in <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockeyprospects.com\/2017\/04\/29\/erik-brannstrom-scouting-report\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Erik Brannstrom<\/strong><\/a>. Brannstrom, like Makar, is primarily an offensives defenceman.\u00a0They both\u00a0lack size, but are\u00a0still able to make plays at the defensive end of the ice.<\/p>\n<p>Cale Makar is projected\u00a0to be selected in the early first round, while Brannstrom is universally ranked to go somewhere in the late first or early second round.<\/p>\n<h3>Cale Makar<\/h3>\n<p>Makar has the advantage in the offensive category. He can carry a team by himself, due to his creativity and hands on the attack. Both prospects also possess a dangerous and complete shot from the point. Their shots are hard and accurate.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Draft Analyst: RHD Cale Makar Highlights (2017 NHL Draft)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/LB7UGhV3JiM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>When he is in the offensive zone, Makar takes over. He will take the puck\u00a0and has the ability\u00a0to develop something from nothing. There are times when he looks beaten or out of the play; but he will out muscle and out work the opposition in order to create a scoring chance. Makar works very well with the team around him as well. Awareness is a key part of his success with the Brooks Bandits. Makar sees opportunities that others do not not, and is\u00a0able to make the difficult pass more often than not.<\/p>\n<p>Makar has provided adequate defensive play in his own zone, but overall there is not much that he offers when playing on the other side of the neutral zone. He lacks strength and aggressiveness\u00a0when playing in his own\u00a0zone. He needs to work on his defensive game and instincts over the next few years.<\/p>\n<h3>Compared to Brannstrom<\/h3>\n<p>There is little doubt that Cale Makar is a more offensively gifted prospect than Erik Brannstrom. However,\u00a0Brannstrom is an all-around stellar prospect. He still has great offensive skill. He has quick feet along the point and can set up and quarterback a power play. Brannstrom has fantastic skills in the neutral zone and on the rush coming into the defensive zone. He is effective at carrying the puck and gaining the blue line to set up a play. He also has the ability to stickhandle through the neutral zone and lead an attack towards the net.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Brannstrom goal <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/2017NHLDraft?src=hash\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#2017NHLDraft<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/IvanHlinka?src=hash\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#IvanHlinka<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/bMee9F0zkO\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/bMee9F0zkO<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Max Marko (@MarkoLWOS) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MarkoLWOS\/status\/763037113189269505\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">August 9, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Gap control is an attribute of Brannstrom&#8217;s that really impresses and makes him a great prospect that has really been overlooked. His stick work in the neutral zone and coming back on the rush are superb. He is quick to efficiently estimate the appropriate amount of space he can allow with the incoming opposition, and then he pounces to dissolve the potential threat.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Erik Bra\u0308nnstro\u0308m #4 - U18 Highlights\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/fGtmjlIzTi0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>There is some work to be done with small skating quirks that Erik Brannstrom needs to get over. However, he has a\u00a0strong base of skills for a defensive prospect who can develop into an offensive producer.\u00a0Teams that are hoping to grab a defenseman like Cale Makar in the NHL Draft should also be very intrigued\u00a0by Brannstrom.<\/p>\n<h3>Looking to Draft Day<\/h3>\n<p>The spot at which Erik Brannstrom could\u00a0be taken at the NHL Draft is at a point where a team not looking for a defenseman could trade down and be okay with it. There is a real possibility that someone could trade into the late first round in order to grab Brannstrom. He\u00a0is a very promising prospect and could be a huge pick up in June. If his draft slot is where most are currently projecting, he be looked at as a real steal a few years from now.<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo via youtube.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Welcome back to Top Shelf Prospects, the daily column that brings you the next crop of professional hockey players. Each day LWOHP will bring you a new player profile or topical article in the lead-up to the 2017 NHL Draft. Be sure to bookmark the site, follow me on Twitter, and spread the word for [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1958,"featured_media":9906,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[309,1279],"tags":[919,1515,1586,37,974,655,924],"class_list":["post-9905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nhl-top-prospects","category-nhl-draft","tag-2017-nhl-draft","tag-cale-makar","tag-erik-brannstrom","tag-hockey","tag-miro-heiskanen","tag-nhl-draft","tag-timothy-liljegren"],"modified_by":"Ben Kerr","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1958"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9905"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9905\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}