Who is Fabian Brunnstrom and why are so many NHL teams - including the Canadiens - interested in him?
Brunnstrom is back home in Sweden trying to decide where he would like to play after a whirlwind North American tour. He spent two days in Montreal, visited Detroit and Denver, and talked to people in Dallas and Toronto. He has been hailed as the best hockey player not under contract to an NHL team and has attracted a lot of attention as a 23-year-old free agent.
Canadiens general manager Bob Gainey said yesterday he felt Brunnstrom has the talent to play in the NHL, but a quick look at the Swede's r?sum? suggests this guy poses more questions than Alex Trebek.For example, if Brunnstrom is so good, how come it took so long for him to win a job in the Swedish League? This past season, he was a 22-year-old rookie with Farjestad, where he had nine goals and 28 assists in 54 games. The previous season, he was playing in the Swedish Third Division.
I'd feel better if he had scored more points than former NHLer Niklas Sundstrom this past season or if he was playing for the Swedish team at the worlds instead of sitting at home contemplating his offers.
On one of his stops, Brunn-strom set the record straight by telling reporters he wasn't the next Sidney Crosby. But NHL teams seem to be hoping he's the next coming of Johan Franzen, the late bloomer who has been lighting it up for the Detroit in the playoffs. I suspect the best teams can hope for is the next Niklas Sundstrom or Jonas Hoglund.
Canadiens need a deep draft: The word on the street is the talent pool in this year's NHL entry is deep, but is it deep enough to give the Canadiens a shot at a quality player? The draft order for the first round was released yesterday and the Habs are picking 25th. That's their lowest pick since 1999, when they didn't have a first-round pick and selected Russian Alexander Buturlin with the 39th pick overall.
Buturlin made it as far as training camp with the Canadiens, but has played his entire pro career in Russia.
No suspense over top pick: The Tampa Bay Lightning has the first pick in the NHL draft and the team is already committed to selecting Sarnia Sting forward Steve Stamkos, the No. 2 scorer in the Ontario Hockey League.
The team has started marketing the top-ranked player in the Central Scouting list, featuring Stamkos on its Hockey Bay website.
Brunnstrom is back home in Sweden trying to decide where he would like to play after a whirlwind North American tour. He spent two days in Montreal, visited Detroit and Denver, and talked to people in Dallas and Toronto. He has been hailed as the best hockey player not under contract to an NHL team and has attracted a lot of attention as a 23-year-old free agent.
Canadiens general manager Bob Gainey said yesterday he felt Brunnstrom has the talent to play in the NHL, but a quick look at the Swede's r?sum? suggests this guy poses more questions than Alex Trebek.For example, if Brunnstrom is so good, how come it took so long for him to win a job in the Swedish League? This past season, he was a 22-year-old rookie with Farjestad, where he had nine goals and 28 assists in 54 games. The previous season, he was playing in the Swedish Third Division.
I'd feel better if he had scored more points than former NHLer Niklas Sundstrom this past season or if he was playing for the Swedish team at the worlds instead of sitting at home contemplating his offers.
On one of his stops, Brunn-strom set the record straight by telling reporters he wasn't the next Sidney Crosby. But NHL teams seem to be hoping he's the next coming of Johan Franzen, the late bloomer who has been lighting it up for the Detroit in the playoffs. I suspect the best teams can hope for is the next Niklas Sundstrom or Jonas Hoglund.
Canadiens need a deep draft: The word on the street is the talent pool in this year's NHL entry is deep, but is it deep enough to give the Canadiens a shot at a quality player? The draft order for the first round was released yesterday and the Habs are picking 25th. That's their lowest pick since 1999, when they didn't have a first-round pick and selected Russian Alexander Buturlin with the 39th pick overall.
Buturlin made it as far as training camp with the Canadiens, but has played his entire pro career in Russia.
No suspense over top pick: The Tampa Bay Lightning has the first pick in the NHL draft and the team is already committed to selecting Sarnia Sting forward Steve Stamkos, the No. 2 scorer in the Ontario Hockey League.
The team has started marketing the top-ranked player in the Central Scouting list, featuring Stamkos on its Hockey Bay website.
