Which of these former teammates is the better own for 2013-13?
The Blackhawks' turn from laughing stock to perennial powerhouse has been something to admire. Obviously they were lucky (and terrible) enough to draft Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, which helped provide them with the core necessary to be a contender year after year but the Blackhawks have also done tremendous job of drafting in the later rounds and in developing those late round picks into competent role-players. Two such players were taken in the same 2004 draft – Bryan Bickell and Troy Brouwer. Neither one is a star on his own but with the right players they can both be extremely productive. Who would you rather own next season?
Brouwer, unlike Bickell, had to go elsewhere to land his millions signing with the Washington Capitals in the summer of 2011. The thinking was that the Capitals had to get bigger and tougher and needed someone with championship experience who could fit in with their star players – Brouwer had in the past skated effectively with Toews and Kane during his time in Chicago so it seemed a natural fit, particularly with the dearth of talent on the right side in Washington.
Brouwer has played effectively in his time with the Capitals expanding his role from 17:11 per game with 2:08 on the power play during his first season to 18:34 per game with 3:23 on the power play in his second. He is now a full time part of the Capitals top six and an integral piece of their league leading power play (26.7%). This led to what was no doubt a breakout season for Brouwer, scoring 33 points in 47 games.
Brouwer has questions to answer about sustaining that production as Bickell. He shot 17.1% last season, which is a fair number above his career average of 14.0%, though not so much above to raise a great deal of alarm. Even if his shooting percentage regresses Brouwer still stands to benefit from increasing his shot rate. Last season Brouwer fired 111 SOG, which damn near matched his career high of 133. Prorated for 82 games Brouwer's shot rate would have seen him fire 194 SOG, which would be damn near a 50% increase on his career high. So even without the bump in shooting percentage Brouwer would have scored at the highest rate of his career simply by generating more opportunities.
Related Posts
UPCOMING GAMES
Starting Goalies
Top Skater Views
| Players | Team | |
|---|---|---|
| NOAH DOBSON |
 MTL | |
| NICOLAS ROY |
 VGK | |
| JORDAN SPENCE |
 OTT | |
| KEVIN BAHL |
 CGY | |
| BRYCE PICKFORD |
MTL
| |
Top Goalie Profile Views
| Players | Team | |
|---|---|---|
| JOHN GIBSON |
 DET | |
| PETR MRAZEK |
 ANA | |
| SEBASTIAN COSSA |
DET | |
| LUKAS DOSTAL |
ANA | |
| JUUSE SAROS |
 NSH
| |
LINE COMBOS
| Frequency |
 PHI Players
| |
|---|---|---|
| 25.6 | MATVEI MICHKOV TRAVIS KONECNY SEAN COUTURIER | |
| 20.4 | TYSON FOERSTER NOAH CATES BOBBY BRINK | |
| 19.6 | OWEN TIPPETT RYAN POEHLING DEVIN KAPLAN | |
DobberHockey Podcasts
Fantasy Hockey Life: Calgary Flames with Steve MacFarlane
Steve MacFarlane is here to report on the Calgary Flames. Jesse and Victor interview Steve about returning pros Nazem Kadri, Jonathan Huberdeau, Matt Coronato, Connor Zary, Yegor Sharangovich, Morgan Frost, Martin Pospisil, Joel Farabee, MacKenzie Weegar, Rasmus Andersson, Zayne Parekh, Dustin Wolf, Dan Vladar, and Devin Cooley. In Cat’s Instincts, Cat Silverman of InGoal mag […]
Fantasy Hockey Life: Sheng Peng on the San Jose Sharks
Sheng Peng is here to report on the San Jose Sharks.
Fantasy Hockey Life: Buffalo Sabres with Mike Augello
Michael Augello of The Hockey News and Hockey Hot Stove is here to report on the Buffalo Sabres. Jesse and Victor interview Michael about returning pros Tage Thompson, JJ Peterka, Alex Tuch, Jason Zucker, Jack Quinn, Ryan McLeod, Josh Norris, Jiri Kulich, Zach Benson, Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power, Bowen Byram, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, James Reimer, and […]
Keeping Karlsson: Kreider Down South
Elan and Brian check in on the NHL playoffs (and the Keeping Karlsson Playoff Pool), announce a change to the draft rules for Season 11 of the Keeping Karlsson Ultimate Patron Fantasy League (KKUPFL), share thoughts on the one single relevant offseason transaction so far, and put a handful of 2024-25 breakout performances under the microscope to see if they’ll continue into 2025-26.
Fantasy Hockey Life: Montreal Canadiens with Ryan Szporer
Ryan Szporer is back to report on the Montreal Canadiens. Jesse and Victor interview Ryan about returning pros Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Ivan Demidov, Juraj Slafkovsky, Patrik Laine, Lane Hutson, Mike Matheson, Kaiden Guhle, Sam Montembeault, and Jakub Dobes. In Cat’s Instincts, Cat Silverman of InGoal mag breaks down Jakub Dobes, Cayden Primeau, and Jacob […]