When the Ottawa Senators acquired defenceman Erik Brännström as part of the 2019 Mark Stone trade, GM Pierre Dorion famously declared it to be his proudest day as GM. Unfortunately for Sens fans, Dorion was way off base about the player, which is something we've known for a long time.
Six years after the Senators so proudly acquired him, it's now official. Brännström is no longer in the NHL.
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As HockeyNews.se reported back in April, the 25-year-old Swedish defenceman is headed to play pro hockey in Switzerland next season. Brännström has signed a three-year deal with Lausanne HC in the Swiss-A League.
In 2020-21, during the NHL's COVID-shortened 56-game season, Lausanne got a sneak preview of what Brannstrom might look like in the league. He suited up for 10 games with league rival Langnau HC, posting 8 points in the process. Lausanne has finished runner-up in the Swiss-A league in each of the past two seasons.
Before the trade to Ottawa, Brännström was seen as a blue-chip NHL prospect. Two years earlier, he was a first-round pick, chosen 17th overall by the Vegas Golden Knights. He captained Team Sweden at the 2018 World Junior Hockey Championships.
Brannstrom played over 70 games for the Senators in each of the last two seasons, but the past year probably soured him on the league.
Last summer, at 24 years old and a restricted free agent, the Senators chose not to extend him a qualifying offer. Unlike his predecessor, who traded for Brannstrom, new GM Steve Staios felt no obligation to the undersized defenceman, nor did any other NHL team.
Brännström signed as a free-agent with the Colorado Avalanche last summer but was traded to the Vancouver Canucks before the season began. After playing 28 games in Vancouver, he was dealt to the New York Rangers as part of the J.T. Miller trade in late January and then traded again to the Buffalo Sabres just prior to the trade deadline. After leaving Vancouver, where he had some very good moments, he didn't play another NHL game.
Brännström's NHL career ends, at least for now, with 77 points and 162 penalty minutes in 294 NHL regular-season games.
Steve Warne (@SteveWarneMedia)
The Hockey News-Ottawa