For the second time in less than two weeks, a formerly well thought of first round selection has found themselves dangling on the waiver wire. The subject of today’s dismissal is Brandon Gormley, formerly of the Arizona Coyotes and playing in his first season with the Colorado Avalanche. The Avs acquired Gormley on Setpember 9th, in exchange for Stefan Elliot.
While the Canucks are nearing relative health on their backend, it isn’t often that a 23-year old defender with first round credentials is ripe for the picking. It’s an option well worth exploring anyways.
Frankly, when I think of Gormley, the first thoughts that come to mind are his appearances with the Canadian team in the 2011 IIHF U-20’s. Gormley was a crucial part of that team, scoring at a point per game clip and maintaining order in his own end.
Gormley’s star has fallen considerably since, as the former 13th Overall selection has battled inconsistency and struggled to secure a job at the NHL level to this point in his young career. Before his acquisition by the Avalanche, Gormley bounced between the Portland Pirates of the AHL and Coyotes with alarming frequency. While Gormley’s AHL point totals (76 points in 149 games) are impressive, his five points in 58 games at the NHL level leave much to be desired.
While Gormley has never been in the black by most possession metrics, his teams have generally fared better with Gormley on the ice, than without. It also bears mentioning that only Matt Duchene and Zach Redmond show better by Corsi For% on the Avalanche this season, among regular skaters. Although, when adjusting Gormley’s Corsi by score, he’s merely middle of the pack.
Given that Canucks Army contributor, Catherine Silverman, is employed by the Arizona Coyotes and has covered them for a significant period of time, I figured I would reach out for a more qualitative, if substantive review of Gormley, based primarily on his time within their organization…
Brandon Gormley is an interesting situation, because i still can’t tell exactly what his ceiling is.
Whether for attitude or just a clash of styles, Gormley found himself the extra man for the Coyotes before getting dealt for Stefan Elliott. He’s got a better two-way defensive game than Elliott, but would go hot and cold- and when he’s cold, it seems to build up on him. I think he’s got a well rounded game and he’s a decent skater, but nothing about his game really stands out- which is good because nothing is terrible, but bad because he has no one asset that makes him indispensable over his colleagues.
I think waiving him is a mistake on Colorado’s part, but I also think he’s nothing more than a potentially solid fifth or sixth defenseman.
This aligns closely with where I stand on Gormley. The prospects of Gormley developing into a top-four defender are likely going, going and gone, but there is probably a valuable asset to be found and developed all the same. We’re talking about a 23-year old defender after all, with good size and plus skating. It’s tough to argue Gormley’s demotion is more of an indictment on his play than Patrick Roy’s inability to properly evaluate anything defencemen, anyways.
Of course, the logistics behind such a move make it more difficult than we might give credit. Based on some of the conversations I’ve had with people relatively close to the franchise, they are loath to lose Alex Biega on waivers. Similarly, one can’t imagine they’re overly happy with the fact that they’re paying Linden Vey a healthy NHL salary at the AHL level – or have been, anyways. Then there’s Ronalds Kenins wage, marinating in the minors as well.
For the Canucks to make a claim, it’s likely that they’d have to think very highly of Gormley. The risk associated extends well beyond the player they will claim and could have long term repercussions on their ability to retain already developed and trusted assets, while simultaneously leading to them having one of the more expensive AHL teams in the league – Philadelphia Flyers aside. 
Still, lets say there’s nothing more to Gormley than the prospect of developing into a sixth, or fifth defenceman. That’s pretty much comparable to Luca Sbisa, Matt Bartkowski, Yannick Weber, Biega and Andrey Pedan at this stage of their careers. Gormley is just 23, with several more years of team control on an affordable deal. If the addition of Gormley allows the Canucks to monetize some of their more middling, older assets, while providing a comparable replacement and yielding futures, it’s a move worth making.