- Maple Leafs signed forward Brendan Brisson to a one-year, two-way contract Friday
- The 2020 first-round pick had 37 points in 66 AHL games with Hartford last season
- Read below for the full contract terms and where Brisson fits in Toronto
The Maple Leafs picked up a former first-rounder on the cheap Friday.
Toronto signed forward Brendan Brisson to a one-year contract, the club announced Friday morning. Vegas took Brisson 29th overall in 2020, and he has never locked down a full-time NHL job since.
Money-wise, this is about as low-risk as it gets. PuckPedia listed the deal as a two-way contract carrying an $850K cap hit in the NHL and $300K in the minors, with CAA’s J.P. Barry handling the file.
Brisson spent last season in Hartford. He put up 37 points, 19 of them goals, in 66 games for the Wolf Pack and got into three games with the Rangers for a single assist. New York skipped the qualifying offer this summer, which dropped him into free agency.
His NHL file is thin: 27 games, two goals and seven assists between Vegas and New York.
Goal No. 1 still holds up. Brisson beat the Penguins for a third-period game-winner in January 2024, five days after his NHL debut.
Take a look at Brisson’s first NHL goal:
Vegas moved him to New York in March 2025, sending a third-round pick along with him in the Reilly Smith deal.
Scoring was never the question coming out of college. Two seasons at Michigan produced 63 points in 62 games, and the Los Angeles native won gold with the United States at the 2021 World Juniors before making Team USA’s roster for the 2022 Olympics.
Cracking the Toronto lineup is the harder part. The bottom six already runs through Colton Sissons, Brandon Duhaime, Nick Paul, Dakota Joshua and Steven Lorentz, and none of those spots opened up because of this signing.
That group turned over plenty this summer. Calle Jarnkrok headed home to Brynas of the SHL instead of chasing another year in the NHL.
Brisson lands with the Marlies, who won the Calder Cup in June. He turns 25 next month, and he needs a real run of NHL games to show the scoring carries over.
