Through two games at the Young Stars Classic tournament, Hunter Brzustewicz has already caught the eye.
His poise with the puck, ability to pick out a pass and the timing of his drive to the net before he buried a one-timer against the Winnipeg Jets prospects were all the type of things that will get Calgary Flames fans very excited.
When Flames director of player development Ray Edwards looks at Brzustewicz, though, he sees a 19-year-old who put in the work this summer to get his body ready to transition to pro hockey.
It reminds him a little of one former Flames prospect, in particular.
“If you remember (Andrew Mangiapane), his first year with us, I don’t want to say he was a kid or a he was a boy or whatever, but he understood after a year that ‘oh boy, this is a different level’ and then he really decided to dig into the training,” Edwards said last week at WinSport before the Flames prospects flew to Penticton, B.C. for the weekend tournament. “We talk about intent and purpose when you train, if you don’t have that intent and purpose and have people around you who have that, it’s mediocre training and you become mediocre. Mang knew he had to do that, so he did it.
“I see that with Hunter already. His body is different than four months ago … I look at him and think, ‘OK, he’s done his part.’ Now, it’s, ‘OK, what does that turn into on the ice?’ “
The hope for Brzustewicz is that what happens on the ice may wind up being extremely exciting. Two games at a pre-season prospects tournament can only tell us so much, but the fact that he’s looked so comfortable is certainly more encouraging than if he’d looked out of his depth.
And his spectacular junior numbers provide a lot of reason for optimism, too.
After getting drafted in the third round, 75th overall, by the Vancouver Canucks last year, Brzustewicz had a spectacular season with the Kitchener Rangers that saw his stock rise.
He scored 13 goals and added 79 assists. That’s 92 points in 67 games. Only fellow Flames prospect Zayne Parekh — drafted ninth overall this year — had more among defencemen in the OHL.
In the middle of the season, Brzustewicz had his future plans changed in a pretty major way, too, when he was a key piece acquired by the Flames in the trade that sent Elias Lindholm to the Canucks.
Brzustewicz landed in a situation where there are going to be opportunities on the blue-line going forward. He should be a big part of that, and he got to work this summer trying to put himself in the best position possible to make the most of his first year as a pro, whether that’s with the Wranglers in the AHL or — who knows? — with the Flames.
“Power, just in my stride and quick turns, too,” Brzustewicz said when he was asked what he had worked on this summer. “I just keep going day by day, being myself. Keep playing and doing what I know and do. I just keep going day-to-day, doing the same things I’ve been doing since I was 12 years old.”
Heading into training camp, Brzustewicz will be one of the most closely-watched players skating for the Flames. It’s unlikely that he’s going to wind up in the NHL coming out of training camp and it would be a surprise if he made many appearances with the Flames this year. There’s a learning curve from junior to the NHL, and patience is almost always required, especially with defencemen.
But the future is bright for Brzustewicz, and his development towards the NHL is going to be closely monitored.
“I think he’s done the stuff off the ice, now he’s got to make the adjustments on the ice and it’s going to be pace, doing everything faster and his checking and defending,” Edwards said.