We’ve already started talking about the Vancouver Canucks’ need for a puck-mover or two on their blueline, and we don’t project we’ll stop talking about it until that need is fulfilled.

But while the majority of such talk will revolve around those solutions found outside the organization – namely, through trade and free agency – the Canucks would perhaps do best to first explore those limited in-house options available to them.

The newly-acquired Erik Brannstrom is a bit of both.

Technically speaking, the Canucks acquired him via trade, flipping a retained Tucker Poolman and a fourth round pick to Colorado in exchange for Brannstrom. But GM Patrik Allvin placed Brannstrom on waivers immediately following that trade. Luckily for the Canucks, Brannstrom cleared waivers, which means he’s now down in Abbotsford, and as ‘in-the-system’ as any other prospect, drafted or otherwise.

Whatever status that qualifies Brannstrom for, the practicalities remain the same. Whereas the Canucks didn’t have any puck-moving blueline prospects potentially ready for prime-time heading into the season, they’ve now got one stashed away safely in Abbotsford, able to be evaluated on a game-by-game basis and called up to Vancouver at any point in time.

And the closer one looks at him; the more Brannstrom appears to be someone the Canucks might be genuinely able to use in a bid to improve their on-ice product.

To call Brannstrom a ‘prospect’ is a bit contentious. He was drafted in the first round of the 2017 draft (ten spots after Elias Pettersson), lost his rookie qualifications way back in the 2019/20 season, and has since suited up for 266 NHL games with the Ottawa Senators.

But if ‘prospect’ isn’t right, ‘young player with untapped potential still figuring it out’ might have to do. The point being that Brannstrom may still have more to give, and could wind up giving it for the Canucks at the NHL level.

Really, 25 ain’t that late in the typical developmental path of a defender. The Canucks’ own Carson Soucy didn’t make the NHL full-time until he was 25. Vincent Desharnais, on the other hand, didn’t play an NHL game until the age of 26.

That might not be the average arrival date. But it’s within the zone of proximal arrival for an average NHL defender. That Brannstrom had so many shots to make it before but didn’t shouldn’t necessarily count against him. All those shots came within a single other organization in Ottawa.

The Vancouver organization (discounting his brief stay in Colorado) marks Brannstrom’s first real fresh start. All of which goes toward saying this is still a player with at least some potential to finally deliver on their initial potential. Perhaps not the potential that saw Brannstrom drafted 15^th overall, but at least the potential to become a useful player for the Canucks at the NHL level.

Brannstrom turned at least a few heads with his Abbotsford debut. His first two games saw him notch three assists, which is impressive in his own right. But it’s how he did it that matters most, as thrillingly captured by our own Dave Hall.

There’s moving the puck, and then there’s moving the puck. At the AHL level, Brannstrom appears capable of doing the kind and style of puck-moving that only really Quinn Hughes does in this organization at this level.

Most of the rest of the blueline struggles to get the puck up-ice effectively. If Brannstrom can do that and effectively distribute first passes and set-up plays in the offensive end, then there’s your puck-moving defender right there.

The challenge becomes his doing it in Vancouver, not Abbotsford.

On that front, there is hope. The blueline that Brannstrom failed to become a full-time part of in Ottawa was never a particularly strong one and was typically constructed with other players of a similar skill set to Brannstrom. It’s hard to say that he was ever put into any particularly strong position to succeed. And yet…

Across several seasons and 266 Senators games, Brannstrom hasn’t put together an awful resume of NHL play. Sure, he’s been on the ice for a lot more goals against than goals for. But that’s Senators hockey! Of more interest, as he transfers over to another franchise, might be the fact that Brannstrom has had a Corsi rating above 50% in every season since his rookie campaign. As we explore his ability to move the puck at the NHL level, his team consistently directs more pucks toward the opposition goal than toward their own when he’s on the ice, definitely matters.

You won’t find the strongest defensive metrics on his statsheet. The truth is that Brannstrom has managed to keep his head above water at best in his own end, with stats like scoring chance control and expected goals always hovering a bit above 50% in his good years and a bit below in the bad. And that’s with fairly sheltered deployment.

But if the Canucks are bringing in Brannstrom at any point this season, it won’t be for his defensive acumen. If the Canucks want to bring someone up to play defensive D, that’s probably Mark Friedman or Elias Pettersson. If they want to bring someone up to move the puck, that’s another story, and it might be Brannstrom’s story.

Stat-card guru JFresh called Brannstrom an ‘intriguing’ UFA this summer, based on a player profile just loaded with positive indicators of puck-moving ability…

…including a masterful control of zone entries, zone exits, pass exits, and the generation of offence both through set-ups and on the rush. In each regard, JFresh has Brannstrom rated somewhere in the 90s, percentile-wise. That’s nothing to sneeze at despite the other holes apparent on the card.

A self-proclaimed member of the “Erik Brannstrom hype squad” on Twitter shared a screenshot from The Athletic that made the rounds in Ottawa Senators circles last season that purported to show “The Brannstrom Effect,” and it presents some data that is awful hard to ignore:

What that shows is not just an ability to move the puck, but to play in a way that ensures one’s team is moving the puck more effectively than usual. Every player to partner with Brannstrom in Ottawa recently saw their Corsi shoot through the roof.

So, if the Canucks want to add a blueliner who is capable of not just moving the puck but of making them a better puck-moving team overall, it would seem they might have already added that player.

Putting Brannstrom into a position where he can demonstrate his full array of skills at the NHL level becomes the real challenge.

Look, Brannstrom is a player with some genuine flaws. If he wasn’t, he would still be in Ottawa. He had an absolutely dreadful camp for the Avalanche, by all reports, and if he hadn’t done that, he never would have been available in a pre-season trade.

He’s not going to suddenly arrive in Vancouver absent of those flaws, though give coach Manny Malhotra time, and we believe at least some of them can be ironed out.

Having Brannstrom succeed as a PMD at the NHL level will be more about supporting him in a way that allows him to play his game around those flaws. On that note, the Canucks’ blueline is set up pretty well to accommodate the addition of a size- and own-zone-challenged defender. The Vancouver blueline is simply more sound than anything Brannstrom was a part of in Ottawa.

Here, we can easily imagine Brannstrom paired up with the likes of Vincent Desharnais or Noah Juulsen, each of whom could provide Brannstrom with both a defensive and a physical conscience but who also need help with the puck-moving side of things. There could be at least one effective pairing to be found there.

At the very least, it’s probably an option worth exploring before the Canucks go big-game hunting on the PMD trade market.

The best news to be had is that trying Brannstrom out won’t cost the Canucks anything they haven’t already paid. He’s been traded for and has already passed through waivers. As such, he can be recalled for Abbotsford at any time, pending cap space. Right now, the Canucks are carrying 14 forwards. All they’d need to do is send one down in exchange for Brannstrom, and Brannstrom could join this roster at any time.

That does not appear to be happening during the Canucks’ upcoming road trip. But depending on how that goes and how well they move the puck, particularly during the trip, it wouldn’t be at all surprising to see Brannstrom given a shot upon their return.

And then, if he made the most of that shot, it would be surprising, but perhaps not that surprising. There are plenty of indicators here that Brannstrom could still be an effective puck-moving defender at the NHL level. And if he can be that for the Canucks, it would suddenly turn what started out as a cap-cutting trade into a real coup.