Brunnstrom demoted

by James Mirtle on Jan 27, 2009 2:33 PM CST Comment 17 comments

The Dallas Stars announced today that the club has assigned left wing Fabian Brunnstrom to the Manitoba Moose in the American Hockey League (AHL). He was placed on the Injured Reserve list with a lower body injury on Dec. 27.

Brunnstrom, 23, has skated in 31 games for Dallas this season, collecting 10 goals and four assists for 14 points with two penalty minutes. He leads the Stars and ranks first among NHL rookies in game-winning goals (4), and is third in the NHL (and first among league rookies) in shooting percentage (22.2%). Brunnstrom is also ranked tied for seventh among first-year players in goals.

>> team release

The team can trumpet his game-winning goals all they want, but Brunnstrom has been a complete and utter bust so far.

He's been by far the weakest defensive player on a Stars team that has really struggled with its goals against this season and seems completely clueless in his own zone. And that's with coach Dave Tippett playing him against the weakest opposition possible, mainly the other teams' fourth lines.

Only four players in the entire NHL have seen more goals per minute go in their own net at 5-on-5 this season, and two of them play for the Islanders.

He makes $2.225-million, is nearly 24 years old and isn't an NHL-calibre player. Not even close.

Sean Avery wasn't the only bad signing in Dallas this summer. And I'm sure teams like Vancouver and Detroit aren't all that unhappy they missed out.

	NAME	POS	TEAM	GP	TOI/60	QCMP	GF/60	GA/60	+/-
1	BRIAN BOYLE	C	L.A	20	8.74	-0.03	0.69	4.46	-11
2	FREDDY MEYER	D	NYI	27	15.86	0.09	1.82	4.34	-18
3	BRENDAN WITT	D	NYI	35	15.44	0.07	1.33	4.33	-27
4	D. ARMSTRONG	C	L.A	23	7.93	-0.05	1.32	4.28	-9
5	F. BRUNNSTROM	RW	DAL	31	9.29	-0.12	2.5	4.17	-8
6	NIK ANTROPOV	LW	TOR	46	12.53	-0.04	3.54	4.06	-5
7	YAN STASTNY	C	STL	32	9.81	-0.03	1.91	4.01	-11
8	MATT NISKANEN	D	DAL	43	14.67	0.01	2.95	3.99	-11
9	BLAKE COMEAU	RW	NYI	21	13.7	0.03	2.29	3.96	-8
10	JOCHEN HECHT	LW	BUF	36	13.58	0.06	1.72	3.93	-18
11	ENVER LISIN	RW	PHX	30	12.28	0.01	2.28	3.91	-10
12	BRAD RICHARDS	C	DAL	44	13.64	0.06	2.9	3.9	-10
13	BRAD BOYES	RW	STL	44	14.07	-0.03	2.13	3.88	-18
14	J. VANDERMEER	D	CGY	20	13.18	-0.07	2.28	3.87	-7
15	MAXIME TALBOT	C	PIT	42	11.11	0.03	1.93	3.86	-15
16	TIM JACKMAN	RW	NYI	34	9.36	-0.04	0.94	3.77	-15
17	SLAVA KOZLOV	LW	ATL	48	12.34	0.01	2.73	3.75	-10
18	RYAN HOLLWEG	C	TOR	25	6.42	-0.25	1.12	3.74	-7
19	CAM JANSSEN	RW	STL	35	5.52	-0.11	2.17	3.73	-5
20	M. SCHNEIDER	D	ATL	35	16.29	0.01	2.95	3.68	-7

UPDATE The Dallas Morning News is reporting that Brunnstrom's trip to the AHL will only be a temporary one. It wasn't termed as a conditioning stint by the team but will in effect be just that.

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Comments

Rob Schremp fells your pain.

Who completes the holy trifecta of YouTube superstars in the AHL?

by Doogie2K on Jan 27, 2009 2:45 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Danny Brière? =)

by Habs on Jan 27, 2009 3:04 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Ville Leino

So maybe he was THE real find then, huh?

by MiesMan on Jan 27, 2009 3:28 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Not demoted - rehab stint

Brunnstrom wasn’t demoted – he is recovering from a high-ankle sprain that has had him out of 11 games. He’s scheduled to play 2 games with the AHL’s Manitoba Moose and then rejoin the Stars. While it’s hard to argue that he hasn’t been a bit of a disappointment to the Stars, he’s still a first-year player. And, for a first year player, he’s not been bad…just not very remarkable. In his first game, he had a hat-trick, but hasn’t shown that offensive flair since, really. Still, 10 goals in 31 games, especially for a rookie, is pretty decent . I think he’ll end up being a solid NHLer eventually.

http://bigdhockey.blogspot.com

by Big D Hockey on Jan 27, 2009 3:40 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

It’s interesting that they didn’t call it a conditioning stint in the press release for some reason. I’ll make an update to the post.

by James Mirtle on Jan 27, 2009 3:43 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

That’s what Mike Heika, who covers the Stars very admirably for the Dallas Morning News, is calling it, and I know he’s good at getting his facts right.

That said, Brunnstrom’s defensive play needs work, obviously. But I can’t imagine there are many teams out there who would say a rookie who scores a goal in 33% of his games is BAD. If the Stars can get his defensive play to improve, it will look like a better signing. His price was inflated, though…I think the Stars bought the pitch that the market for him was hot this summer.

http://bigdhockey.blogspot.com

by Big D Hockey on Jan 27, 2009 3:46 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

His team is being heavily, heavily outscored when he’s on the ice, so in my mind, that makes him bad. Tippett must have fits with him out there.

by James Mirtle on Jan 27, 2009 6:14 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

To be pedantic

He doesn’t score in 33% of his games, he scores at a 0.33 per game pace. And if you take out the first game hat trick (just maybe it was a fluke) he’s scored 7 goals in 30 games; a 19 goal pace that is not terribly impressive for a defensive liability. Especially when combined with his 4 assists.

I've been looking at the sky

by Back In Black on Jan 27, 2009 8:38 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

2 way contract

He has a 2 way contract, this way they don’t have to pay him a NHL salary for the length of time they feel he needs. On a conditioning assignment, he is still considered to be a NHL player, and gets NHL pay. Also, a conditioning stint is limited to 2 weeks, so maybe they’ll want him down there a little longer. Kind of weird they didn’t send him down before the All-Star game, though, but maybe he wasn’t cleared to play.

Hockey blogging can't get any flatter.

by saskhab on Jan 27, 2009 5:53 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Imagine how bad he would be if he had signed for the Leafs…

Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.

by PPP on Jan 27, 2009 3:49 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

He’d probably be our best player.

ps. your guy Antropov is on that list in the post.

Pension Plan Puppets*
* Blog contains less than 2% puppet content by weight.

by Chemmy on Jan 29, 2009 10:30 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Man, I wish I had seen this thread sooner.

This was a move that was in the works for a few days now and wasn’t unexpeceted. The Stars wanted him to get his legs back under him before he hits the ice again with the team. Heck, he’s even looking forward to it, which is great for a guy who has almost refused any play in the minors whatsoever.

I also think that while he wasn’t great defensively, the whole team was a defensive liability for a few months.

Defending Big D: A Dallas Stars blog on SBN: easy to use, free to join.

by Brandon Worley on Jan 27, 2009 5:45 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Brunnstrom

has not been nearly as bad as you’ve described, James. Clearly, he’s a work in progress and has obvious defensive deficiencies. But the guy has all kinds of talent and really started to show a strong work ethic in the weeks leading up to his injury. He could really be something in a few years. To say he’s “not an NHL-calibre player. Not even close.” is a statement with which very few people who have watched many Stars games this year would agree.

Nobody realistically expected him to come over and immediately adjust to the NHL game and run away with the Calder… there’s no way in my mind he’s a bust. On top of that, I believe (not 100%… somebody could check me on this) that the 2.3 million dollar figure is incentives based… so he likely won’t even be making that much this season.

by disposablehero on Jan 27, 2009 6:10 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

You may have got me then. His numbers are brutal and in the three or so games I’ve seen, he rarely saw his own zone. Tippett’s scared to use him, I think.

He’s got some good moves, that’s for sure, but so do a lot of guys that come over from Europe and fail. We’ll see.

by James Mirtle on Jan 27, 2009 6:30 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

I might be suggesting something a little far-fetched, but even though Detroit’s probably happy they lost out on Brunnstrom, I bet he’d have been a better player on the Wings. Not just because they’re a better team either … they just have a way of picking up middling players and fitting them into very specific roles in which they seem to thrive. (I’m a Hawks fan, and I hate this about them.)

by ChicoMaki on Jan 27, 2009 6:41 PM CST reply actions 0 recs