Phone call from Crosby caps NHL Draft Day experience for Blazers’ Brunicke

The first South African-born player ever selected in the NHL Draft soaked in the moment with family at The Sphere arena.

“I don’t think my mom wanted to let me go when I was giving her a hug,” said Brunicke, a 6-foot-3, 183-pound right-shot defenceman. “It was pretty emotional.”

Brunicke had 10 goals and 21 points in 49 games for the Blazers in the 2023-2024 campaign, a season cut short in February due to a shoulder injury.

The setback did not keep the fledgling rearguard from donning the maple leaf at the 2024 Under-18 Men’s World Hockey Championship this past spring in Finland.

Brunicke was pleased with his performance at the tournament, feeling he answered the call to play a defensive role, kill penalties, block shots and help shut down top lines for the Canadians, who knocked off the U.S. 6-4 in the gold-medal tilt.

He was listed 52nd among North American skaters in NHL Central Scouting’s final rankings ahead of the 2024 NHL Draft.

“I felt really comfortable and confident during the whole process,” said Brunicke, who was born in Johannesburg and moved to Calgary with his family when he was two years old. “It obviously wasn’t a good feeling waiting those three hours or whatever and not getting picked [in Round 1], but I had high hopes going into the next day and, luckily enough, Pittsburgh took me with the 44th pick and I couldn’t be happier.”

Former Blazers’ assistant general manager and director of player personnel Robbie Sandland is an amateur scout for the Penguins.

“I knew I had a lot of good conversations with Pittsburgh,” Brunicke said. “Robbie played a big part in it. He is one of the main reasons why Kamloops picked me, as well, so to kind of share that experience with him was a little bit emotional. For him to put in a good word was really nice.”

Brunicke was picked by Kamloops in Round 3 of the 2021 WHL Prospects Draft and his selection on Saturday marks the 13th consecutive year a Blazer has been scooped up in the NHL Draft — the longest active streak in the WHL.

He is expected to join the Penguins on Thursday in time for development camp.

“I’m excited to go through that process, work with their staff and coaches and see what their insight is,” Brunicke said. “I want to have a good showing.”

Areas for improvement in Kamloops next season include physicality, blocking shots on the penalty kill, winning more 50-50 battles, improved production on the power play and taking more chances offensively, according to Brunicke.

Perhaps he can get a few pointers in those areas from the NHL legend who inspired his boyhood South African beachwear – his new teammate, Sidney Crosby.

“I had a call with him right after the draft,” Brunicke said. “It was pretty sweet. He was just kind of saying, ‘Congratulations.’

“You think about the Penguins and I think my mind went straight away to Sidney Crosby — or maybe one of the things I thought about because there was a lot of emotions going on — but it was one of the things I thought about and for him to call us was pretty surreal.”

by Marty Hastings

Phone call from Crosby caps NHL Draft Day experience for Blazers’ Brunicke

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