Flyers draft: Defenseman Harrison Brunicke has one intangible John Tortorella is looking for
Brunicke has size, a good hockey IQ and plays a solid 200-foot game. And competitiveness is “a big trait" for the 18-year-old, who could become the second NHL player born in South Africa.
Sixth in a seven-part series highlighting players the Flyers might select in the first round of the NHL draft on Friday in Las Vegas.
Shaun Clouston sat in the coach’s room at the Sandman Centre, home of the Western Hockey League’s Kamloops Blazers in British Columbia. As they often did, players walked by and said hello to the Blazers coach/general manager and his staff.
But then Harrison Brunicke came down the hall.
“Harry made a point of stopping and stepping into the office and just, ‘Hey guys, just want to let you know I got invited to the [NHL scouting] combine,’” Clouston told The Inquirer. “And he was beaming and really excited to tell us.”
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Brunicke should not have been surprised by the invitation to the weeklong event that allows NHL teams to conduct interviews with the top prospects for the draft in between physical testing. He has been on scouts’ radars for a while.
The young defenseman, who turned 18 in early May, was having a breakout season in 2023-24. He registered 21 points (10 goals, 11 assists) in 49 regular-season games before missing the final 14 due to a separated shoulder. Brunicke returned to help Canada win gold at the IIHF World U18 Championship that began in late April, posting one goal and three assists with a plus-minus of plus-11 in seven games.
Brunicke can play a solid 200-foot game. The blueliner credits it to his high hockey IQ, and the ability to create a quick transition from the defensive zone while hemming teams in on the other end. At 6-foot-3, 196 pounds, he’s a minute muncher who is a powerful skater and can quarterback a power play. And he’s got that one intangible Flyers coach John Tortorella is looking for.
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“The big piece about me is competitiveness and sacrifice,” Brunicke told The Inquirer. “So, you know, it’s blocking shots again, standing up for teammates, playing with a bit more of a chip on my shoulder. Whether it’s answering the bell a couple more times, it’s all stuff I can do.
“But competitiveness is a big thing about me, too. I don’t like to lose — whether it’s a pingpong game, or whatever it is away from the rink with the guys, to a puck battle in the corner — just a big thing for me is I don’t like to lose. So I think that my competitiveness, it’s obviously a big characteristic, a big trait of mine.”
Brunicke also has a chance to make NHL history.
If he laces up his skates in an NHL game, he will become the first skater — and second player — born in South Africa. Like goalie Olaf Kölzig, who won the Vezina Trophy in 2000 and was selected with the No. 19 pick in the 1989 NHL draft by the Washington Capitals, Brunicke was born in Johannesburg. The family moved to Calgary, Alberta, when Brunicke was 2 years old for his dad’s job and, as he grew up and saw friends playing hockey, he joined in.
“We came here not knowing much about snow, bear in mind, playing hockey,” said Brunicke, who noted it was a bit of a culture shock but wouldn’t change it for the world.
The blueliner also grew up playing soccer, which he credits to helping with his footwork on the ice and making him more of an athlete but opted to commit to the ice full-time around the age of 14. And he has no regrets about making that decision, either.
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“He’s a little bit of a late bloomer, physically,” Clouston said. “He grew more this year, another inch or more this year. So I think he’s got the potential to really be a big, strong hockey player when he’s done physically maturing and adding muscle mass. But I think I think he’s really enjoyed just the last two years and he’s really, really improved his game, especially on the defensive side.”
Before Brunicke can make history, he needs to hear his name called. It could be by the Flyers — who have close ties with the Blazers — with their second pick in the first round or early in the second round if the Columbus Blue Jackets send over the No. 36 pick to complete the Ivan Provorov three-team deal from last June.
And don’t be surprised if a few televisions and computer screens are turned on in Johannesburg despite the nine-hour time difference from Las Vegas. Brunicke has a big family in South Africa and he also keeps in touch with a few of the players on the country’s men’s hockey team that competes in Division III of the IIHF World Championships.
For Brunicke, it will be a dream come true when the moment comes, calling the journey “pretty surreal.” And the young defenseman also said he has some big shoes to fill, in regard to Kölzig.
Clouston sees a kid just enjoying the process and embracing things day by day. When Brunicke won gold at U18s, Clouston sent him a congratulatory text. The response to his text at the end of this week will probably be the same: “What a feeling!”