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Why The Maple Leafs Signed Brendan Brisson To A One-Year Contract
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- Why The Maple Leafs Signed Brendan Brisson To A One-Year Contract
The Toronto Maple Leafs announced that they have signed Brendan Brisson to a one-year contract on Friday. His salary cap hit is $850,00, according to PuckPedia . In the minors, he'll earn $300,000.
Brisson, 24, is coming off a one-year contract. He was a pending RFA at the beginning of this off-season, but the New York Rangers decided not to qualify him, which made him a UFA.
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The left winger still has a lot to prove at the NHL level. In his career, he's played 27 games across parts of three seasons, registering two goals and nine points.
Brisson spent this past season with the Rangers, but played just three games in the NHL. Most of his time was in the AHL with the Hartford Wolf Pack. In the minors, he produced 19 goals and 37 points and a minus-32 rating on a team that finished last in the league.
In terms of his role in the Maple Leafs organization, he'll be a depth player who spends most of his time in the minors with the Toronto Marlies, coming off a Calder Cup championship.
This move could fill the gap that was left when right winger Alex Nylander signed a professional tryout with the Calgary Flames .
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Brisson is still a relatively young player. If he shows some promise in the minors this coming season, perhaps the Leafs would be inclined to keep him around a bit longer. And in a perfect world, Brisson should have many years of professional hockey in his locker.
The Vegas Golden Knights were the team that drafted Brisson. He was selected in the first round of the 2020 draft with the 20th overall pick. Before being traded to New York, he made nine NHL appearances for Vegas and didn't mark a single point while averaging 9:52 per game. With the AHL's Henderson Silver Knights, he scored five goals and 19 points in 45 games.
His best stint in the NHL was in 2023-24 when he played 15 NHL games that year. Brisson went on to score two goals and eight points for the Golden Knights.
The 2022-23 season marked his best AHL season, scoring 18 goals and 37 points in 58 contests.
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Brisson had a rather impressive stretch before entering the professional leagues. In 2019-20, he was a member of the Chicago Steel in the USHL . In what was his rookie season, he scored 24 goals and 59 points in 45 appearances. That was good enough to get him named the USHL rookie of the year.
The 6-foot forward also has a World Junior Championship gold medal under his belt from the 2021 tournament. Brisson notched two goals in seven games for Team USA.
He also competed in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics for the Americans, recording two goals in four games.
Brisson was also successful in the NCAA , playing two seasons for the University of Michigan in 2020-21 and 2021-22. In his rookie season at the college level, he scored 10 goals and 21 points in 24 games. He followed that up with a 21-goal and 42-point campaign in 38 games the next year.
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