As we hit the 39th spot, the draft board shifts to a name that might be familiar to even some of the more casual prospect watchers around here. Henry Brzustewicz, a big, right-shooting defender, just wrapped up his second season with the London Knights of the OHL, playing on that team with Flyers prospects Denver Barkey and Oliver Bonk, who made it all the way to (and away with, in the end) the Memorial Cup this spring.
The long playoff run likely gave him some valuable experience in playing in big, high-leverage situations, but with more eyes than ever turning to watch the pinnacle of junior hockey, it also gave Brzustewicz a bit more name recognition, even as he’s projected to go somewhere outside of the first round. Of course, there’s a lot more to Brzustewicz than just the name and the highest of achievements, so let’s get right into all that.
Pre-draft rankings
#19 by NHL Central Scouting (NA Skaters)
#38 by Elite Prospects
#46 by FC Hockey
#37 by McKeen’s Hockey
Bio
DOB: February 9, 2007
Birthplace: Washington, Michigan
Position: Defenseman
Height: 6’1″
Weight: 194 lbs
Shoots: Right
Statistics
What’s there to like?
Brzustewicz, on the whole, isn’t an overly flashy player, but he does play a solid, well-rounded game. There’s a clear high level vision of the game with him, and he’s shown that he’s able to break down plays for opponents before they’re able to make them into something overly dangerous. Whether it’s chipping a puck off their stick on the rush, or pinching them up the wing on the wall in the neutral zone, or closing up on them in front of the net to force a turnover, he can neutralize a play in a number of ways. What’s more, he isn’t an overly physical player, but he’s strong enough to push opponents off of pucks with relative ease.
He might be a little rarer to do it, but Brzustewicz does have the skills to make a flashier play, when he feels confident enough to do it, and we’ve seen in flashes this year some positive play from him as a puck carrier in transition, an extra option to help his team create on the rush, as well as an option to activate in the offensive zone, as he brings enough illusiveness in his skating where he’s able to cut through defenders to help keep a cycle alive.
Along with that, there’s also still a bit of untapped offensive potential in his toolkit — his numbers for the season are respectable, and while he’s clearly shown more of an aptitude as a setup, support player, making that quick pass over to the forwards to let them get to work, his shot does have some power to it, and he’s good enough at getting it through traffic that it could be more of a weapon for him, if leaned on a bit more.
Overall, though, Brzustewicz brings a really high level of engagement to his play, and whether that’s manifesting on the offensive or defensive side — and while it can sometimes mean he gets himself pulled out of position — he’s always looking to make something happen.
What’s not to like?
The one big drawback of Brzustewicz’s game is that while he clearly has some interesting tools at his disposal, he’s still very much working on putting it all together. That is, for much of this season Brzustewicz has served as a good support player on that Knights team, but he hasn’t nearly as often stepped up and found a way to be more of a play-driver. His skillset would suggest that he could do it, but it hasn’t all fallen into place for him yet (maybe this is at least in part a product of how loaded that team is, that he’s felt he can take a bit of a backseat to the older and even more skilled players), and it will take some targeted work and likely a bit of a shift in mindset and approach to get him to a point where he’s comfortable stepping up in that way on a more consistent basis.
Also, for as much success as he’s clearly had with the team, there’s always going to be a little bit of concern with Brzustewicz as a Knights player, and the lingering question of whether he’s really something, or just getting propped up by the buzzsaw system they’ve put together out there. That is, there is in some ways a ceiling to how much a player can develop when they’re on a junior team that’s just rolling over everybody year over year, and that puts Brzustewicz in a bit of a strange developmental position. With him, more than with other prospects in other programs, the team that drafts him will have to be waiting for him to turn pro to really see what they have with him and what they can do with him. Of course, this isn’t an outright negative with the player, just a question of organizational fit — a team looking to fast track the development of their defense prospects might want to look elsewhere, with all this in mind.
How would he fit the Flyers’ system?
Speaking of organizational fit, the fit for Brzustewicz within the Flyers’s system might be a challenging one. Now, on the one hand, it’s true that they always seem to be looking to stock up on right-shooting defenders who also bring some size, and Brzustewicz does fit that mold, so that might well be enough to make him at least interesting to them. But, on the other hand, the Elite Prospects Draft Guide compares him to someone like a Rasmus Sandin, who plays a game not dissimilar to Cam York, and players like him are already getting very close to coming a surplus within the pipeline, so the question, most broadly, is — do the Flyers need another Cam York-type of player? Or would a high second round pick maybe be better spent elsewhere?
Could the Flyers actually get him?
The range of projections for Brzustewicz isn’t too spread out like crazy, and with it looking pretty comfortably like he’s going to go somewhere in the early second round, it looks like he’ll all but certainly be an option for the Flyers to grab with one of their earlier picks in that round.
What scouts are saying
“A 6-foot-1, right-shot defenceman capable of playing a solid two-way game, Brzustewicz has the foundation necessary to transform into a high-end prospect over time and under the influence of the Knights.
In most shifts, Brzustewicz plays a quiet and supportive style of game. Rotating ahead of plays, denying the middle, pushing opponents wide, and walling off the front of the net, he contains the opposition. When they put themselves in vulnerable spots, he engages, skating forward at them, and pushing them off the puck. He retrieves it and moves it to his partner, prioritizing safety over creativity.
For most of the season, Brzustewicz accumulated good tracking results, making those simple plays, but rarely became a playdriver.
What pushed him up our board was the transformation his game underwent when he earned more minutes some nights. His creativity started to shine through, giving us an indication of the player he could become in a larger role over the next two seasons. “Brzustewicz showed some great offensive instincts in this game, joining the rush, creating lanes, breaking out quickly to open up as a passing option high in the neutral zone, and was rewarded for his efforts with an assist on London’s first goal when he received a pass from Sam Dickinson,” wrote OHL regional scout Lauren Kelly in a February report.” He skated into the offensive zone to create an odd-man rush, and then funnelled the puck to the slot for Denver Barkey.”
Brzustewicz can deceive forecheckers, make plays around them and to the slot, and relocate to spots to get passes back and create scoring chances. These abilities, coupled with his all-around projectable defensive game, could turn him into a No.4 defenceman in the NHL, provided he continues to push his play-driving skills over the next seasons.”
—Elite Prospects 2025 NHL Draft Guide
“He skates well moving forward but also opens up and adjusts and uses his feet to get open off the puck, play in and out of give-and-gos, create zone exits and step up and close gaps defensively, with a willingness to play physically, compete and a desire to snuff out and end plays. He has shown confidence with the puck and assertiveness without it.”
—Scott Wheeler, The Athletic
And just like that, we’re ready to move into the 40s, and we’ve got to add a new player to the poll in the process. Welcome, Adam Benak!
“Part of me is thinking that there’s been a bit of an overcorrection on Adam Benak, but it is also pretty clear that he has had to reprogram a lot of how he plays the game while in the USHL. His first few performances I saw were legitimately troubling as he looked like he was working his tail off trying to be a major focal point of the team and just couldn’t get anything going, especially with the puck. As time has worn on, I think he’s become much more comfortable in a more limited but concentrated role as a more complimentary play facilitator on the rush while coming alive a bit more in the offensive zone with a bit less overall responsibility. He’s quick, but I don’t think he has the speed necessary for a small forward in the NHL yet. He’s got skill, but his frame is so small that pulling pucks around opponents doesn’t really help him as much as it does at lower levels. To counter that, making passes quicker, being more aware of open space and using his quickness to pop in and out of play has been a benefit. He’s still responsible for half of Youngstown’s offense and I’d say his profile is more promising than a player like Kevan’s, but the concerns are greater with a bit more of a questionable map ahead. I still believe in Adam, and if teams overcorrect and he’s a player you could take a flyer on in the middle rounds, you could be rewarded in the future, but I’ll admit the chances may be lower than I thought they’d be to start the season.”
–Will Scouch, scouching.ca
