The Dude
For most junior hockey league players entering their 18-year-old campaign, the focus is simple, keep working to improve your game.
For Brandon Lisowsky, the approach is somewhat different. Heading into the season you could see his name pop up on some scouting radars. Turning 18 in April, the Port Coquitlam, BC product has seen a recent jump in popularity, moving to number 28 on TSN’s Craig Button’s Draft List rankings.
Making his Case
Lisowsky, currently playing on the wing with stand-outs Tristen Robins and Kyle Crnkovic, has started the season red hot. Notching four goals and two assists in six games to start the year only helps his ranking. Entering his second full season of WHL play, Lisowsky showed well in the condensed 2021 campaign with 17 points in 24 games. A natural goal-scorer with a quick release, Lisowsky often finishes plays as opposed to starting them. Four of his last five years of competitive hockey have seen him score more goals than assists.
Scouts drool over game-breakers and Lisowsky certainly has shown flashes of that finishing touch. Recall back to the 2019 NHL Draft and Cole Caufield, a top-end goal-scoring talent fell to 15th overall and was finally selected by the Montreal Canadiens. The knock-on him? His size, 5-foot-7 and barely 170 pounds. A pure goal-scorer at every level, Caufield is now on the precipice of being a legitimate scoring threat night in and night out for the Habs.
Might be the easiest goal of Brandon Lisowsky's season thanks to Tristen Robins.#BladeCity pic.twitter.com/HJTeueg2Md
— Saskatoon Blades (@BladesHockey) October 14, 2021
July 7th/2022 – D Day
Lisowsky stands a few inches taller than the aforementioned Caufield and plays a heavier game. He defends his space well by maintaining good positioning, shifts his weight back and forth to create sudden cuts to open up the defense. This positioning often enables him to be in a shooting position for above-average opportunities. Not lost in this barrage of talent on the offensive side of the biscuit is his commitment to defensive positioning.
If you can pound the puck in the net, that’s great, however, defense wins cups and rings. Lisowsky embraces his role and consistently hustles back to support his defense and goalie. When in the defensive zone, puck control, patience, and a knack for moving the puck into safe space, is Hockey IQ 101. The season as it moves into the winter months will see many obstacles. Long road trips, the potential for injury, slumps, and a myriad of other challenges. Now that he’s on the radar and scouts are watching, keep the game simple. This will likely be the fastest eight months in Brandon’s life and if all goes to plan, his name will be called by a GM in Montreal. Incidentally, where Cole Caufield hangs his hat every night.
