Calgary Flames fans have heard lots about this player since they acquired him from the Vancouver Canucks in the February 1 deal.
Kitchener Rangers defenceman, Hunter Brzustewicz, is one of the most noteworthy defenceman coming out of the Ontario Hockey League this season, and it’s high time that Flames fans get familiar with the Washington, Michigan produce.
They might just be hearing his name at NHL games soon.
Brzustewicz’s rise as an NHL prospect
Brzustewicz first jumped onto the radar of NHL scouts way before his draft year. The Flames prospect first starred as a young prospect of the U.S National Team Development Program, (NTDP) from 2020–2022. This experience with the NTDP culminated in a U18 World Junior Championship tournament appearance for the American squad in the 2021–22 season where he put up a respectable two assists in five games.
From the NTDP, Brzustewicz then made the direct jump to the OHL with the community-owned Kitchener Rangers for the following 2022–23 season. In Kitchener, he made an immediate impact, becoming the club’s solidified number-one defenceman by the end of the season, leading the Vancouver Canucks to select him in the third round, 75th overall, in the 2023 NHL Draft. This move has paid off as Brzustewicz recently signed his entry-level contract with Calgary on March 14.
Brzustewicz’s 2022–23 OHL season
Brzustewicz has been a workhorse and a game breaker for the Kitchener Rangers (41–23–4 record), leading the Rangers on the backend enroute to a sixth place finish in the OHL this year. With his average of 25:57 minutes of ice a night, he proves to be the epitome of hockey endurance.
Your eyes are not deceiving you either, as oftentimes he does play every second shift and the blueliner can regularly get up to 28–29 minutes of ice a night. He and his defensive partner, Ottawa Senators prospect, Matthew Andonovski, make these minutes look like a piece of cake. Mix in the sheer number of pro-ready defencemen that the Rangers have produced recently (Arber Xhekaj, Roman Schmidt, and Lleyton Moore), and the C of Red is right to be excited.
Statistically?
Brzustewicz finished second in OHL defenceman scoring with 92 points, trailing only behind consensus 2024 top-10 pick, Zayne Parekh’s 96. Even more impressive? The Michigan product led the entire OHL in assists this season with 79. Talk about the ultimate wingman.
The 2023–24 Stat Sheet:
| POS: RD | H: 6’00 | W: 190LB | AVG TOI: 25:57 |
| GP: 67 | G: 13 | A: 79 | PTS: 92 |
Brzustewicz plays an aggressive transition game that is collected, has good vision/play support, and instincts. This is the exact style of hockey I would expect a Star Wars figure like Darth Maul to play.
Keys to Brzustewicz’s Game
Here’s what makes Brzustewicz so special.
A force in transition, with skating foundation/mobility
The transition game that Brzustewicz plays provides the framework for his game. The first element that makes him as his skating is sound. The 6’0″ blueliner has a good skating posture with a relatively clean stride with no mechanical issues to match. He has good inside and outside edgework that allow for this clean stride along with quality crossovers that allow for great acceleration.
He also just loves to jump up into the play. All of these factors contribute to his ability to create sudden changes pace on break outs and in transition that can really help establish quick and deceptive zone entries for his team. The second year Rangers’ mobility is a central element to his transitional game.
The Puck Touch
As previously stated, Brzustewicz is a great wingman, and his puck skills are to thank. The Flames prospect has top notch passing skills rarely flubbing a pass to one of his forwards, and has a competent D-to-D passing aptitude. He’s one of the best power-play facilitators in the OHL right now and this is largely because of his great on-ice vision that allows for quick and decisive smooth passes to teammates in the slot, or just a safe wall player. He shows flashes of creativity, and excels in his willingness for point activations meaning he is always a threat when he’s in the zone.
Brzustewicz’s passing play instincts also allow for quick ups, and quality breakout passes that further drive his teams play. A testament to how much he impacts the Rangers’ play? The sheer fact that he starts 57% of his shifts in the defensive zone, but regularly ends up on the other side of the rink. One of the reasons Brzustewicz can positively influence plays through body positioning where he establishes favorable leverage mixed in with an above average motor, which either gets his team puck possession or rush chances.
On the defensive side he has shown to handle pressure well.
Defensive deception
Speaking of defensive efforts, the Rangers defender is a hockey puzzle to some opponents, simply because he can be quite deceptive. Be it look-off fakes, scramble shots/passes that dupe defending players, and the previously mentioned change of pace on zone entries, he has quite the toolkit. Opponents simply do not know what to expect, and that bodes well for the Flames organization in the future. This deception is one of the elements that make his game so much fun to watch.
Limitations
Unfortunately, all players have limitations as you watch them and for him it can be the defensive side of his senses. One element that might be problematic is aggressiveness in jumping up into plays for all the chances it generates; if this risk assessment is miscalculated this can lead to opponents springing odd man rushes resulting in significant chances against.
Due to this aggressive play style, Brzustewicz sometimes struggles with gap control, but Flames fans will be relieved to hear gap control is one of the more fixable issues. In the offensive zone he also struggles with puck protection, but as a defender this should be a limited issue at the next level.
Brzustewicz also faces three much more minor issues which are fairly common of younger defenseman: shot accuracy (he’s more of a passer anyways), defensive instincts (it can be an experience thing), and physicality (this just fundamentally isn’t a part of his game, which is fine).
Evaluation
- Skating: 4/5
- Senses: 3.5/5
- Compete level: 4/5
- Puck Skills: 4.5/5
- Shooting: 3.5/5
Projection: High top-six, possible top-four NHL defenceman
NHL ETA: 1–2 Years
A game of skating, transition, puck skills, and deception produces a flashy game that is simply fun to watch. The Flames in general should be fun to watch (right?). Now that you know a bit more about Hunter Brzustewicz, are you excited for when he does make his pro-debut?
