Hunter Brzustewicz
2023 NHL Draft Eligible
5'11", 185 pounds
DOB: 2004-11-29
The quarterback of the Kitchener Rangers, Hunter Brzustewicz has been able to deal and dish to the offensive firepower of the Rangers all season long. Carson Rehkopf, Francesco Pinelli, Reid Valade, Danny Zhilkin, are just some of the offensive talents that Brzustewicz has been able to assist this season. Deciding to come over and play in the OHL after two seasons (including the COVID season) with the U.S. National Team Development Program is a decision that isn’t made often, but ultimately it was the best decision for Brzustewicz. Coming into the Kitchener Rangers, Brzustewicz was the “go-to” player on the backend, and that was an opportunity that he wasn’t going to get if he continued to play for the NTDP.
Playing first powerplay and playing against top matchups, Brzustewicz was able to show how he handled the pressure of being a top pair defender. This really emphasized his strengths and weaknesses as a defender. He plays efficient rush defense, and he has an active stick with the precision to poke pucks away. Even if he gets beat, his feet allow him to get back in time. The concerns are around his net-front game and inability to tie up sticks out front. He can get himself into difficult situations where he is not looking at the puck, but at the opposing player and he misses the play to the net, and he is late on tying up the player.
Brzustewicz is the biggest threat in transition, and at the offensive blue line. His passing ability and vision is what makes him such a special player. If you are a forward on the ice with Brzustewicz, you better be ready for the puck at all times, because he is going to find you. In transition, he has his head up the whole way, but he never makes a meaningless pass. He sends every pass with purpose and without hesitation, and he is always scanning the ice to find his best passing option. From the point, he does the same thing. This makes him a great power play quarterback, and he is the player that you want feeding passes to goal scorers.
At the next level, Brzustewicz is a two-way puck moving defenseman who will play inside a team’s top 4 and is capable of playing big minutes on the power play. He is a unique player-type with his elite passing vision and ability to set up play after play from the blue line and in transition. He also possesses this confident and determined mindset, he doesn't really let the opponents get in his head and he always remains composed. Brzustewicz knows that his passing game is his strongest asset, and he is sending every single pass with all of the confidence in the world.
Skating:
Brzustewicz is a confident skater, there is really no other word that can articulate his skating ability. He is an average skater across the board with his quickness, speed, and acceleration. But what makes him effective is how confident he is on his feet and he is incredibly difficult to knock over. Brzustewicz is usually able to maintain possession by using his strong edges to turn and spin away from the attacker, while protecting the puck. He never cracks under pressure, and he even thrives under it.
Brzustewicz is able to pick up the puck after his partner’s mistake and he knows exactly where to go with it. He uses his feet to attack laterally, and he is able to gain the entry and blow past the defender by using his feet and shielding the puck.
On this play, he is able to track the puck and beat the opposing attacker to gain possession. He carries the puck with such confidence as he is able to use his crossovers to stay ahead of the attacker and propel himself into open ice to start his team in transition.
This is another example of that confident skating ability. Brzustewicz is able to track the airborne puck and shift his feet to the outside to shield the puck from the forechecker. He shows strong edge work on this play to be able to keep his speed while he is shielding the puck. Once he is facing towards the attacking zone, he uses his crossovers to propel himself into the zone.
Grade: 50
Shot:
Now, Brzustewicz isn’t a “shooter” per say, but he isn’t going to give up a shooting opportunity when he has an open lane. He possesses a great deal of strength, and his shot power is what makes his shot effective when he does take a shooting opportunity.
On one of his best goals of the season, Brzustewicz is able to take advantage of a wide open lane and pick his spot in the net. He puts all of his power into this shot, as he kneels down to get as much weight on the puck as possible. He is able to pick the top corner when he has the room to do so, and this is a great example of that.
Here’s a nice catch and release shot from the point, where Brzustewicz is able to get lots of power on his shot once again. He finds the open lane and is able to get the shot through lots of traffic.
Here is a smart shooting opportunity where he is able to drop into an open area of the ice and load up a strong one timer.
This is probably a shot that Brzustewicz didn’t have to take, as he’s not in a quality scoring zone. He is rushing this shot towards the goal when he has lots of time and space to make a better play. These rushed plays do happen from time to time in his game, but they aren’t super common.
Grade: 50
Skills:
Brzustewicz is not a player that is going to go end to end and deke out the entire team, but he has some subtle skill in his game. A lot of his “flashy” moves are performed from the point, by throwing a fake to draw in a defender, or faking one way and attacking the other. His puck control allows him to take some risks to create high quality plays for him and his teammates. The deceptiveness in his hands and his feet make him a difficult player to track with the puck, and nearly impossible to knock off of it.
There are a variety of highly talented skills displayed in this play. He is able to throw a fake on the first attacker and drive around the outside into the middle. Then he throws the puck into an open area in the middle where he can do something with it. Finally, he is able to use his footwork and hands to direct a shot on goal. His stickhandling ability is on full display through this entire sequence, and it is certainly a flashy way to create a scoring opportunity independently.
Here’s another play where Brzustewicz is able to throw a couple of fakes and create a high danger scoring chance for a teammate. He works his way to the middle, where he fakes a shot and dishes to a teammate who is wide open in the circle. This is a skilful display of patience, calculation, and deceptiveness by Brzustewicz, and he knows that he is passing off this puck the whole way.
Brzustewicz has an active stick and his ability to track pucks is high-end. He uses both of these skills to eliminate this play entirely and force a turnover.
His controlled hands allow Brzustewicz to pick this puck off with ease. He not only eliminates a chance against, but he is able to start the breakout for his team.
Grade: 55
Smarts:
Hockey IQ and passing vision are undoubtedly his two greatest assets, and they make Brzustewicz one of the smarter defenders in the league. Because of these attributes, Brzustewicz has one of the higher assist totals among defenders in this draft class. He has the ability to make it easier for goal scorers to produce, as he is able to deliver the puck into high danger areas using his vision. He has the awareness to draw opposing defenders towards him and create more space for his teammates. Brzustewicz is the ultimate offensive supporting defender, and he is such a unique weapon for the Kitchener Rangers to utilize.
The patience that Brzustewicz shows in this play is something that you don’t see often from young defenders. He takes the puck in a high pressure situation with two forecheckers attacking, and tracks backwards behind the goal line to reset the breakout. He waits until the pressure has cleared to start his team in transition.
This is just a play of pure awareness by Brzustewicz. He is able to back himself into a wide open pocket on the ice where he can give and receive the puck with his head up.
Another high awareness play, where Brzustewicz is able to give and receive the puck with his head up. Here, he is able to pass the puck to his teammate in the high slot. He reads that his teammate is in a high pressure area, and he makes himself available on the half wall to receive a pass. He takes a low quality shot, but the lead up to this shot is what is most impressive. Ideally, it would have been nice to see Brzustewicz carry the puck around behind the net to assess his options once he receives it the second time.
Brzustewicz does a great job tracking this play that could have resulted in an odd man rush towards his own net. Instead, he is able to knock the pass down along the boards and force a turnover.
Another display of patience from Brzustewicz on this play, where he is able to control the puck under pressure and make a safe breakout pass off of the boards.
Grade: 60
Physicality/Compete:
Brzustewicz isn’t the type of defender to throw big hits and box out hard in front of the net, but strength is his greatest physicality attribute. His strong stance makes him incredibly difficult to knock off of the puck, and he is a pain for opponents because of how “slippery” he can be. He does have some weight and size, sitting at almost 6’ and 190 lbs, but it would be helpful to see him use his body more often, especially in front of the net.
This play exemplifies his strength and strong edges quite well, as he is able to maintain body position against the bigger defender Oliver Bonk, and clear the puck down the ice while Bonk is hacking at him. Brzustewicz gives all he has on this play, and he is clearing the puck down the ice as hard as he can while falling.
This play barely gets cut off by the camera angle, but Brzustewicz is able to gain body position on the big and rugged forward Colby Barlow, and he is able to intercept the pass. This is another play that would be difficult for Brzustewicz to make against a bigger opponent, and it shows his compete level to come and intercept this pass.
Grade: 50
OFP: 53.5
A note on the 20-80 scale used above. We look at five attributes (skating, shooting, puck skills, hockey IQ and physicality) for skaters and six for goalies (athleticism/quickness, compete/temperament, vision/play reading, technique/style, rebound control and puck handling). Each individual attribute is graded along the 20-80 scales, which includes half-grades. The idea is that a projection of 50 in a given attribute meant that our observer believed that the player could get to roughly NHL average at that attribute at maturity.