Flyers Playoff Player Review: Justin Braun
Braun Did his Job Well During the Flyers’ Playoff Run
Justin Braun played every game in the playoffs for the Flyers, and did so without much attention, good or bad. That may be the highest compliment for a bottom pair defender, which is the type of player Braun is at this point in his career. He was a solid contributor to a team that was able to advance past the first round.
A look at Brauns’s numbers further proves a postseason that was unremarkable. Braun played the 5th most minutes of defensemen overall and the 3rd most on the penalty kill.
Niskanen and Provorov were the preferred penalty killers, but Braun was the third option by a substantial margin. Of the top for penalty killers, he and Travis Sanheim allowed three goals, the fewest on the team.
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Braun collected two points, both assists, which tied him for last on the team with Shayne Gostisbehere who only appeared in five games. Pedestrian offensive numbers are of little concern in Braun’s case.
Braun only allowed seven even-strength goals, that was the least of the Flyers’ regulars.
The team was able to score seven even-strength goals while Braun was on the ice, netting him out to a zero even-strength goal differential. I would think that would be considered a win for any bottom pair.
As good as the top-level stats (the ones that matter) look, the advanced metrics are not as pretty. Braun’s even-strength corsi was 46.04 percent, a figure that topped only Hagg and Niskanen. This corsi would typically be thought of as subpar, but well within the realm of acceptable for a bottom pair player. It is important to point out that no Flyers’ defensemen broke 50%, so the team as a whole was outpaced at shots attempted. This makes Braun’s corsi look less concerning if there was any concern, to begin with.
A-. . D. Philadelphia Flyers. JUSTIN BRAUN
Braun a key cog in the Flyers defense, sucked down a lot of minutes while not costing his team. It could be argued that he did not contribute enough on offense, which would be a fair criticism.
However, if Braun was able to turn his offense up to its maximum, it would not translate too much more than the 2 points he contributed. He is simply not an offensive player, it is not his job, but he did a great job at keeping the puck out of the net.
Even though Braun has exceeded expectations from a statistical standpoint, there is some concern from what was seen on the ice. Braun seemed to be a step slower than normal, oftentimes over skating the opposing player in the effort to recover.
Could it be a sign that Braun has lost a step? Next season will give a clue as we watch how Braun is able to deal with the league’s quicker players.