Derick Brassard:
How Far Will He Go?
Alan Bass
Issue date: 12/4/08 Section: Sports
Could anyone truly imagine that Derick Brassard would be performing as well as he is right now?
"A star in the making, Brassard needs to get a regular shot on a scoring line to get to the top level. In the meantime, he is good enough for regular duty." According to The Hockey News Ultimate Fantasy Pool Guide 2008-2009.
He is already a star, just 18 games into his first full NHL season. He is second on the team behind Rick Nash in goals with eight, while he leads the Columbus Blue Jackets with 17 points. Not only is he doing well offensively, he is playing well in the defensive zone, as his plus-9 rating reflects.
That's not all. He has the best shooting percentage among Blue Jackets that have played at least five games at 25%. (Nikita Filatov has one goal on two shots, but has only played in four games this season). No wonder the scouts tell him he needs to shoot more.
After Brassard was drafted sixth overall by Columbus in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, Sportsnet.ca explained his play. They said that he "excels at both ends of the ice, and is a determined athlete. [He] skates well and possesses plenty of scoring instincts."
They also went on to say that he has to improve on a few things, including the fact that he has to "learn to shoot more" to mix things up a bit when going in on an NHL defenseman. He was also told that at 6'1 and 190 pounds, he needed to "add more strength to fully maximize his vast potential."
Derick Brassard was a gem in major juniors, scoring 218 points in 151 career QMJHL games, a league not known so much for high scoring.
In addition to those numbers he also had an astonishing 141 penalty minutes in his major junior career. He was on the tops of many people's lists, but ultimately fell to number six, mainly because of his size, and the presence of other great prospects, including Erik Johnson, Phil Kessel, Nicklas Backstrom, and others.
Then Columbus senior scout Don Boyd was apparently in love with Brassard when he first saw this kid play, as he called his General Manager Doug MacLean, saying, "I just saw Joe Sakic."
"A star in the making, Brassard needs to get a regular shot on a scoring line to get to the top level. In the meantime, he is good enough for regular duty." According to The Hockey News Ultimate Fantasy Pool Guide 2008-2009.
He is already a star, just 18 games into his first full NHL season. He is second on the team behind Rick Nash in goals with eight, while he leads the Columbus Blue Jackets with 17 points. Not only is he doing well offensively, he is playing well in the defensive zone, as his plus-9 rating reflects.
That's not all. He has the best shooting percentage among Blue Jackets that have played at least five games at 25%. (Nikita Filatov has one goal on two shots, but has only played in four games this season). No wonder the scouts tell him he needs to shoot more.
After Brassard was drafted sixth overall by Columbus in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, Sportsnet.ca explained his play. They said that he "excels at both ends of the ice, and is a determined athlete. [He] skates well and possesses plenty of scoring instincts."
They also went on to say that he has to improve on a few things, including the fact that he has to "learn to shoot more" to mix things up a bit when going in on an NHL defenseman. He was also told that at 6'1 and 190 pounds, he needed to "add more strength to fully maximize his vast potential."
Derick Brassard was a gem in major juniors, scoring 218 points in 151 career QMJHL games, a league not known so much for high scoring.
In addition to those numbers he also had an astonishing 141 penalty minutes in his major junior career. He was on the tops of many people's lists, but ultimately fell to number six, mainly because of his size, and the presence of other great prospects, including Erik Johnson, Phil Kessel, Nicklas Backstrom, and others.
Then Columbus senior scout Don Boyd was apparently in love with Brassard when he first saw this kid play, as he called his General Manager Doug MacLean, saying, "I just saw Joe Sakic."