In his first game he looked pretty good. He was the only one who had a shot (as I recall?) on the first line with Dats & Hank. He actually had 3. From the first game, he looked like a shoot first kinda guy. Pretty much shooting whenever he could. He had a nice one-timer opportunity too.
It's hard to judge Brunner after one game. First NHL game, new team, minimum preparation time (playing with Z in freaking Switzerland doesn't count) doesn't help. And it's away to the Blues (maybe the most stacked team in the league).
If Brunner plays like a $3 million winger, he should get $3 million. Otherwise it was just a case of low risk, high reward.
I don't think Brunner will succeed in the NHL, he's not hard enough and isn't strong on the puck, easy to knock down.
He'll be another Leino, Brunnström etc.
I'm sure Brunner would be more than happy to earn $4,5M a year playing in the NHL...
So far he's played one NHL game in which I thought he was among the least bad players for Detroit. I'll give him at least a month before I comment on his future as a NHLer...
Too early to tell.
He tried some pretty weak moves and took low percentage shots with no traffic Saturday night.
Really didn't get much sense of his skating and stickhandling ability.
I am watching him play for years now and I have to say, he has to change some pieces of his game. No doubt about that. But he can still be a very good scorer if he finds a way to deal with the smaller ice.
Just watched the first period, but I thought he was very nervous. Should have fired a better shot on that first pp imo
I'd like to be able to get him signed to a cheap "Bridge Contract" either another 1 year deal or a 2 year deal. If he can get 20-25 points I'd consider it a good year but depending on who he have to sign & for how much he would be the 3rd or 4th priority for me. (1 being Howard, 2 being Filppula, 3 being Smith & Nyquist)
I know it's just a game but still. Should he be higher overall?
I can't come up with numbers as my last NHL game (on a console) is a few years back, but he usually has a better wristshot than slapshot (he really shouldn't be at the point during PP), has a very good handeye/dekes control and is an above average skater for NA standards (speed). I don't know if you should add something to those attributes or lower the rest, but they should be prop. higher.
(tonight)
