Gudbrandson

[FBI]

What do you think we have here? Call me pleasantly surprised here.. Looking like a solid stable presence so far with only one brain fart in 3 games?
Reminds me a little bit of another 44 we had skating around out there..
Hope he can keep it up!

[alan21]

Too early to tell but yes he has been decent so far.
Turns out Zadorov is the big dummy who can't defend.

[TheScorpion]

Don't want to overreact to a small sample size but he's certainly been a positive so far.

[DeluxeMoustache]

So far, he has looked good.

Strange to see he has been traded during the season each of the last 3 years.

Hopefully he keeps this up and sticks!

[YourMother]

I certainly expected a Badbranson, but so far he's been a fairly Gudbranson.

[BrennyBaller]

Originally Posted by alan21

Too early to tell but yes he has been decent so far.
Turns out Zadorov is the big dummy who can't defend.

Zadorov can defend pretty well. It's his play with the puck that is his issue. He can't make a good pass or play under pressure.

[Enoch Root]

let's bump this thread after 20 games

so far so good though

[topfiverecords]

So far so gud.

[GranteedEV]

Seems like he's basically a decent #6D a la Engelland (2017) or Prout (2019).

He's probably still be a downgrade in that role from a healthy Stone (2018, 19, 20, 21) or Forbort (2020) over the long run, but for now he's competent and it's not the most important role. Seems the coaches dislike Stone in that role because he's not a fighter?

[GreenLantern2814]

Gudbranson is what I’d hoped Zadorov was, and Zadorov is even worse than what I expected Gudbranson to be.

[YourMother]

Gudbranson was on the fan not too long ago and talked about how this year he hired a new skills coach and really worked on that part of his game. Having heard that, in the small sample size thus far I've kept a close eye on him and I think his hard work has paid off. He's definitely looking confident out there with the puck.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

I've seen him enough over the years to know that this 3 game stretch is an anomaly. I tend to favor the majority of the data set when looking at a player. He's had plenty of time in the league and he has been consistently inconsistent. Even within the same game, he can look good and then absolutely terrible. Mostly with his poor play, it's been decision making that has hurt him. He seems to have improved slightly in that regard, but even last night he made a completely braindead pass right out in front of his net to nobody.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not rooting against him, I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop. I've been burned by him before as a Panthers fan, and I can't seem to forget some of those big moments where he let his team down.

[boogerz]

Sutter "coached" Gudbranson in Anaheim and the Flames have a bunch of NHL-caliber defensemen. It shouldn't be much of a surprise that Sutter is deploying him appropriately so far.

As long as Hanifin, Tanev, and Andersson can stay healthy, there is no reason for Gudbranson to be in over his head and revert to Badbranson

[Enoch Root]

Playing defense in the NHL is difficult, and results will vary significantly, depending on the situation they are put in, matchups, style of play, etc.

The same player can look like a God one year, and a bum the next ON THE SAME TEAM (Tanev, from year to year in VAN, Brodie from year to year in CGY, are a couple of immediate examples).

Sutter is a great coach because he gets the team playing a style that they can be effective in. Especially defensemen - he has a long history of making defensemen look good/better.

So far, things have gone well for Gudbranson, which is great. It is far too early to draw any conclusions. But when it comes to defensemen and Sutter, I am always optimistic.

One other point - he has all the tools: size, speed, shot, meanness

[tvp2003]

Early on he's been "gud".

At the mid-year break he'll probably be pretty reliable, nothing fancy. Like "bran".

Come the end of the season it'll be "son of a ..."

[btimbit]

I definitely expected Zadorov to be better than Gudbranson, and so far that's absolutely not been the case.

I'm not 100% convinced, it's only been a few games, but I would love nothing else than for Gudbranson to excel here, especially with potentially a bigger role than he's ever had at this level.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

Seems like he's basically a decent #6D a la Engelland (2017) or Prout (2019).

He's probably still be a downgrade in that role from a healthy Stone (2018, 19, 20, 21) or Forbort (2020) over the long run, but for now he's competent and it's not the most important role. Seems the coaches dislike Stone in that role because he's not a fighter?

Stone isn’t really that physical period, considering his size. He’s also pretty bad at making the first pass - he tends to ring it to a covered forward (often making them turn and stop). Not Zadorov bad at passing but Gudbranson seems to be better at it so far. I actually think, on limited viewing, that Gudbranson is actually more skilled. Similar shot, better wheels.

[djsFlames]

I just want last night's pairings to stick.

Will also echo others' sentiments. Mindful of the small sample size, hope he keeps it up.

[joejoe3]

Back in my day, this thread would've been "Erik Freakin' Gudbranson"

[timbit]

Originally Posted by btimbit

I definitely expected Zadorov to be better than Gudbranson, and so far that's absolutely not been the case.

I'm not 100% convinced, it's only been a few games, but I would love nothing else than for Gudbranson to excel here, especially with potentially a bigger role than he's ever had at this level.

Maybe he becomes our real “Bennett” asset.