Breaking down the recent signing of goaltender Victor Brattstrom.
Detroit Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman has been known for taking fliers since arriving with the team just over a year ago.
He’s signed or traded for players such as Brendan Perlini, Dmytro Timashov, Adam Erne and Robby Fabbri, among others, to see if they stick or not.
All come on short-term deals in the midst of a rebuild, so there’s really only upside to these moves – outside of the team not being in contention for the playoffs. If they don’t pan out, you don’t resign them. Simple as that.
- In some cases, the move worked: insert Fabbri.
- In others, it didn’t: insert Perlini.
Either way, it doesn’t look like Yzerman’s approach is stopping anytime soon after signing former sixth-round pick Victor Brattstrom to a two-year entry level deal in an effort to get some bodies in the locker room who can man the pipes for the Grand Rapids Griffins and Detroit Red Wings.
So, what does Brattstrom represent?
Earlier this week I wrote an article on how Yzerman would handle the goaltender situation. There are plenty of top-tier and mid-to-low-tier options available this offseason, and only Bernier currently slated for the NHL roster.
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Brattstrom doesn’t represent more than one of my favorite words when referring to opportunity. He’s a dart throw. As a former sixth-round pick within the organization, there’s reason to think he can compete and turn himself into a player for the Griffins and Red Wings.
So…you’re saying there’s a chance? Yes.
Anything can happen in sports. Heck, the entire season was postponed in April because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Brattstrom ranked second in the Swedish Allsvenskan per a recent Detroit News article with a 2.13 goals against average with Timra IK.
He has the size at 6-foot-5, 200 pounds to clog up the net, and the recent promotion in the organization means he’ll have a chance to compete for job with the Griffins and Red Wings in 2020.
A chance is all he can ask for, and Yzerman granted him one.
Will he stick? Who knows?