Toronto Maple Leafs 2016 NHL Entry Draft Retrospective
By Gordon Munro
Sixth Pick
At 92nd overall in the fourth round, the Leafs once again opted to take a double-overage player in Regina Pats forward, Adam Brooks.
Coming off a season where he scored 38 goals and 120 points in 72 games, the 20-year-old Brooks had impressed Leafs management to take a flyer on him.
As I said, Brooks was twice passed over and the only ranking of him I could find was the 176th ranked North American skater by NHL Central Scouting in 2015.
This begs the question, couldn’t the Leafs had just waited to nab him up a couple weeks later when he likely would have went undrafted?
Or even taken him in the sixth or seventh round? Yes, that was many people’s complaints at the time. Regardless, the Leafs wanted to ensure he was in the organization. Brooks would spend the following year back in Regina where he put up an even better 43 goals and 87 assists for 130 points in 66 games.
He then turned pro, joining the Marlies and winning a Calder Cup in his first season. The following year with the promotion of multiple key Marlies’ forwards, he took over as a main player scoring 21 goals and 40 points in 61 games.
The year after, he saw his first taste of NHL action playing seven games and firmly placing himself as a main call-up option for the Leafs. Then in 2020-21, he played 11 games scoring five points for the Leafs, splitting time with the Marlies once again.
2021-22 saw what must be the most bizarre waivers scandal in recent memory with him being claimed off of waivers four separate times, including being reclaimed by the Leafs.
All-in-all he played 25 NHL games with three different teams that year. He was signed by the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2022 off-season where he currently remains as a minor league fixture for them and is slated to become an unrestricted free agent.
Although not a bad pick necessarily, with him at least playing 43 NHL games and still being somewhat relevant to the league as a possible call-up option.
At 92nd overall, there was clearly some value left on the table with the Brooks pick. It’s tough to be too upset though because again eight years out there is still a chance he could surpass 100 games.