Justin Brazeau
Signed April 4th out of the Ontario Hockey League
Age: 21
Justin Brazeau’s story is genuinely absurd. Brazeau stood at 5’10” and 140 pounds in his minor-midget season before being drafted in the 13th round of the OHL draft.
He only put up 13 points in 65 games in his first NHL draft-eligible season and went undrafted, although his potential as a draft steal was inexplicably detected by a very observant writer back in 2016.
Fast forward three years to 2019 and Justin Brazeau has now grown to 6’6” and 225 pounds and is coming off a season where he scored 61 goals and 113 points in 68 OHL games.
Brazeau’s unprecedented development in both size and ability after the age of 18 makes him a very unique prospect. With great hands, scoring touch, and size, the combination of tools that Brazeau possesses are unprecedented from an undrafted Canadian junior player.
The primary concern in Brazeau’s game is his skating. Brazeau has acknowledged that himself, saying, “I’m from the North. I’ve never had too much power skating or anything like that.”
Brazeau is under contract to play with the Toronto Marlies this season, where his progress will largely depend on his ability to improve his skating to withstand the higher pace of play.