The Canucks as an organization think the world of Guillaume Brisebois. They always have. After selecting Brisebois 66th overall in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, they admitted they’d have taken him in the second if they could have. He remains the sole member of that class with an entry level contract.

Whether they’ll get a return on that investment remains to be seen. Brisebois is in his fourth QMJHL season, now a member of the Charlottetown Islanders after requesting a trade from the Acadie-Bathurst Titan in advance of the season. Since jumping ship to Prince Edward Island, Brisebois has found a new gear offensively and taken significant strides forward in his development.

Combined with Brisebois apparent physical growth, this could be a player on the cusp of legitimate NHL aspirations. With 21 points in 35 games this season from the blue line, there are certainly enough reasons to fathom the possibility.

The Qualifications

Before I delve too deeply, let’s quickly review the criteria for a qualifying prospect:

The player must be 25 years or younger, and

The player must be eligible for the Calder Trophy next season.

As a result, players that are considered to be “graduated” to the NHL (Brendan Gaunce, Nikita Tryamkin, Jake Virtanen, Anton Rodin) are not eligible.

Stats

The Rundown





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I’ve always found myself at odds with the Canucks’ assessment. He’s never stuck out to me as having any one particular skill that jumps off the screen and grabs my attention, and I’m admittedly underwhelmed by the sum of all those unspectacular parts.

By my estimation, Brisebois has above average defensive instincts, an active stick and the ability to anticipate plays well. He’s an above average puck mover, but again, I’ve never been overwhelmed by his capacity for exiting the zone with control. At times I find him almost a little too content to make the safe play and go glass and out.

Still, there’s very clearly a market for Brisebois’ services. At the very least, there’s one at the junior level. The Islanders saw fit to surrender a pretty penny for Brisebois’ services. This same player was among the last cuts for Team Canada’s World Junior Hockey Championships roster just over a month ago.

Perhaps the strongest compliment paid Brisebois is that upon leaving the Titan, where he was a captain for two seasons, he was named captain of the Islanders immediately upon arrival. We often hear about Brisebois’ work ethic and dedication to the craft, and it’s hard to argue with that with his multiple captaincies as living proof.





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The fact remains that players with Brisebois statistical and stature based platform don’t often make the NHL. Using pGPS, Brisebois’ current season checks out as having a 3% expected success rate, which is the lowest mark we have on record for the 6’3 defenceman. Successful members of Brisebois’ cohort produced 22 points per 82 game season, which is a solid mark for bottom four defencemen.

If Brisebois makes it to the NHL, it’s likely as a third pair defenceman with puck-moving ability and a shutdown type of game. That’s a win with the 66th overall pick period. I tend to think Brisebois has a better chance than pGPS indicates, in spite of the fact I’m not terribly high on Brisebois personally.

Then again, the Canucks see a top four guy in Brisebois. Benning raved about him in Penticton and brought up that he’d grown a full two inches over the summer. That’s only going to help the cause. Here’s to hoping their faith is vindicated.





