There’s a lot of facts and numbers you could take away from the Vancouver Canucks’ first five games of the 2024-25 season. But the most important stat to remember is the number 100.
100 is the Canucks’ winning percentage when Erik Brännström is in the lineup. Just ignore the only two games played in his stat line.
When Brännström was called up from Abbotsford to take Derek Forbert’s place in the defensive group, it was under the expectation that any help he’d provide would be largely felt through his puck movement skills. And yet, in the Canucks’ 3-0 win over the Flyers, Brännström provided some of the team’s best underlying metrics in the defensive end.
That’s not to say Brännström has lit the world on fire with his play, but in the limited minutes Rick Tocchet has given the 25-year-old, he’s been a consistently positive presence so far. Small sample sizes be darned, it’s fair to say that Brännström has already earned himself an extended stay in the NHL by providing the Canucks with a different type of blue liner that doesn’t sacrifice the hallmarks of Tocchet Hockey.
But whenever Forbort returns from personal leave, someone will have to be sent down to Abbotsford. And with Brännström playing too well to go back to the AHL, that leaves just Forbert, Vincent Desharnais, and Noah Juulsen as the three realistic options.
The easiest answer would be to assign Forbort, considering his defensive struggles to start the season, but the optics of demoting a player fresh off a personal leave aren’t great. That leaves Desharnais, whose play has been a widely mixed bag of results, or Juulsen, the certified eighth defender on a very team-friendly contract.
To his credit, Desharnais has also been a net positive in the last pair of games since being a healthy scratch. If he continues to have strong outings, it’ll be all the harder to warrant sending him down. And while Juulsen is the backup option behind Brännström and Desharnais, risking a player making $775k on the waiver wire is a gamble in itself.
But all of that stems from whether or not Brännström continues to solidify himself in the Canucks’ lineup. While his defensive numbers have been great, Brännström hasn’t had the chance to show off the skills that earned him a 20-point season with the Ottawa Senators last year or netted him three assists in his first two games with Abbotsford. Tocchet will be giving him every opportunity to find that happy medium until Forbort returns. And if he continues to improve and impress, Brännström will force the Canucks to make a tough decision.
And after all, the Canucks are playing at an 82-0 pace with Brännström in the lineup, so why mess with a winning formula.
