Toronto Maple Leafs: From Draft Reject to the Big Leagues
In 2015, Toronto Maple Leafs Center Adam Brooks was passed over in the NHL Entry Draft. Today, he centers a Line with 2499 Career NHL Points.
Young Olympic Games Bronze Medal. WHL Points Leader. WHL All-Star. Calder Cup Champion. And now NHL Player. From a draft reject to the big leagues, Toronto Maple Leafs fourth-liner Adam Brooks has had quite the journey.
He’s gone through the thick of it and he’s worked hard but to start his story we must go back nearly a decade to his hometown of Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Brooks would play his minor hockey in his hometown of Winnipeg, MB for the Winnipeg Hawks of the WAAA. In his U15 2011 year, Brooks would put up 53 goals and 90 points in 30 games and ultimately end up a 2nd round, 25th overall pick of the Regina Pats in the 2011 WHL Bantam Draft.
After another year of minor hockey in Winnipeg and capturing a bronze medal in the 2012 Young Olympic Games in Austria, Brooks would then move on to the WHL full-time for the next 5 seasons.
Over his first two seasons, Brooks struggled in Regina, putting up a measly 23 points in 115 games. In the 2014-15 season former Winnipeg Jets Head Coach John Paddock would take over the reins in Regina and under new Leadership, Brooks would excel.
The Beginning
In his first year under Paddock, Brooks saw more ice time than ever and would finish the season just under a point per game with 30 goals and 62 points in 64 games, good enough for the team lead.
Following the season, Brooks would enter the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, eligible as a 19-year-old. Unfortunately despite being ranked 176th by NHL Central Scouting among North American Players, Brooks was not selected with one of the 211 picks.
The next year, Brooks came back to Regina hungrier than ever. In 72 games, Brooks exploded for 38 goals and 82 assists for a total120 points. He would be awarded the Bobby Clarke Trophy for WHL Most Points and would also be named to the WHL First All-Star Team.
Obviously leading the WHL would turn some heads, regardless of your past struggles. So Despite re-entering the draft in 2016 as a 20-Year-Old, Brooks would finally be selected in the 4th round, 92nd overall by none other than the Toronto Maple Leafs. (stats hockeydb.com, some info wikipedia).
Brooks would attend development camp that year but still be sent back to junior. Back in Regina for the 2016-17 year, Brooks would serve as Captain on the team and would put up another monster season, tallying 43 goals and 130 points before joining the Leaf’s organization for the next season.
Adam Brooks and The Toronto Maple Leafs
With high hopes for the 2017-18 season, Brooks would get to know the Toronto Maple Leaf’s organization while playing in the AHL with the Marlies.
Under future NHL Head Coach Sheldon Keefe, Brooks would appear in 57 games and put up 19 points. Brooks would also play in all 20 playoff games that year before helping capture the Marlies’ AHL Championship.
From his time in junior, we already knew Brooks could score and it would come sooner or later at the professional level. But what we also would see was his versatility. Playing up and down the lineup, on the power play, short-handed; wherever Keefe needed him, he would be.
The following year Brook’s numbers would climb. He would finish the 2018-19 season with 21 goals and 40 points over 61 games prior to finally getting his opportunity the next season.
In the 2019-20 season, the 23-year-old Brooks would play the majority of the season in the AHL before getting the call from recently new NHL coach Sheldon Keefe. From late December into January, Brooks would play in 7 games for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
He would score his first NHL point in a 6-3 win in Winnipeg, a Hockey Night In Canada game, and the first game in his hometown. It was a game I was lucky enough to attend. Not only did I remember the win, but I remembered Brooks. He would play just over 7 minutes that night but if there was one thing I remembered about his game was the level of compete he brought at all times on the ice. And it’s been apparent since then that every time I watch him, that compete is there.
This season, Brooks has been up and down between the NHL and the AHL. Brooks would go on to score his first NHL goal in a win in Edmonton early in the season, a moment he will never forget.
Brooksy with the tip in front! 🔥#LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/io5N7PAI8G
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) January 23, 2021
Through the month of April, Brooks has made a name for himself in the bottom six. Most notably over the last few games on a line with Future Hall of Famers Jason Spezza and Joe Thornton.
Sheldon Keefe had this to say when asked about Brooks on Saturday Morning,
“He’s doing what you want young players to do, which is don’t give the coach a reason to take you out, to control what you can control. No matter how much you’re playing, go out and be effective and show that you’re bringing value.”
As mentioned earlier, it’s the effort and the versatility that make Brooks a valuable player. He’s been playing upwards of 11 minutes a night the last couple of games and been making even more of a statement. Relentless on the forecheck, not afraid to go into the hard spots to play in, and always hard on the backcheck. Someone that nearly anyone in the NHL would like to have their disposal. Remind you of anyone..? Maybe a Hyman type?
Next. Game 1 Playoff Lineup for Leafs. dark
Regardless, the Leafs and their staff love Brooks. It took some time for him to get here, but now that he’s here we cannot complain. He has been a diamond in the rough and this diamond sure has a bright future ahead of him.