OA Analysis: Brock Sutherland

Starting the post once again with stats from the WHL site:

Regular Season

Season                         GP G A PTS +/- PIM

2010-11 Regular Season  72 4 19 23 4 69

2009-10 Regular Season  52 2 8 10 7 48

2008-09 Regular Season  41 1 6 7 18 36

2008-09 Regular Season  14 0 0 0 -7 9   (Lethbridge Hurricanes)

2007-08 Regular Season  5 0 0 0 1 2      (Lethbridge Hurricanes)

Total:                            184 7 33 40 23 164

Playoffs

Season                   GP G A PTS +/- PIM

2011 WHL Playoffs  10 0 4 4 -1 12

2010 WHL Playoffs  22 1 3 4 -8 17

2009 WHL Playoffs  7 0 2 2 2 4

Total:                  39 1 9 10 -7 33

What is it about these boys from Manitoba having such an improved season?  Brock had his best season yet.  The 09-10 season showed signs of something good, but consistency was a problem and he had a pretty bad playoffs.  So at the start of 10-11 I was cautiously optimistic.  I'd seen him play well so I knew he could do it, it's whether or not he would.

WHY HE'LL BE KEPT:  Big, good skater, not afraid to get rough.  He's become very solid and reliable, steady.  He played a shitton of minutes, he'd be a good solid veteran defenseman to anchor the blueline.  Brock's not the quickest, but he's not slow by any means.  A stay-at-home style serves him well.

WHY HE WON'T BE KEPT:  Matt MacKenzie.  Based on his play I'd say Brock would likely fill one of the 3 spots, then Bob acquired Big Mac and what happens with Brock depends on what happens with Matt.  I suppose it's possible Tory could keep them both, I wouldn't particularly object to that, I like them both (as players and as silly guys).  Suds isn't a big time offensive defenseman, which you sometimes want to see in an OA d-man.  He did get a ton of assists last season, so it's not like he's just standing around (which he used to do, actually).  Bob might have some trade value in Suds, it somehow seems teams are always looking for an OA d-man at the deadline.

SPOKANT SAYS:

Pros:  Significant improvement from '09-'10 season.  Veteran presence on the blue line is always huge.  Utilizes his size well.  Silly.  A good d-man coming back to a team that is short on defence.

Cons:  Good, but not great.  Until Bob acquired MacKenzie, I thought Brock had a pretty good chance of being an OA Am.  Lacks the offensive side you usually want from an overage defenceman.

My guess:  Traded. :(