Third time’s the charm for sure
Over-age draft picks glad Leafs gave them a shot
There might not be a happier player at the Maple Leafs summer development camp than Adam Brooks.
Overlooked not once, but twice in the NHL draft, Brooks was both relieved and ecstatic to hear the Toronto Maple Leafs call his name at 92nd overall last week in Buffalo.
“It’s kind of a dream come true for me,” said Brooks. “Two years passed over, and finally drafted. It’s been a unique and very cool experience.
“To hear my name called was a sigh of relief.”
Brooks watched the draft from his Winnipeg home.
“You put in so much work and try to develop your game. To finally get that call and be chosen, I was super pumped. I couldn’t believe it at first.”
Brooks is 20, one of five over-age players the Leafs took at the draft. It’s unusual for a team to take so many, but Mark Hunter, the team’s director of player personnel and draft guru, has proven he cares little for convention and may well have sparked a trend.
This draft wasn’t considerably deep among 18-year-olds, and the Leafs believe they have a better read on what the older players, like Brooks and Jack Walker, can offer down the road.
After seeing undrafted players like Tampa’s Tyler Johnson become NHL stars, some teams might want to take a chance or two on previously overlooked players.
“A guy like Tyler Johnson, teams are probably kicking themselves they didn’t give them a shot,” said Brooks.
The 5-foot-10 Brooks, a centre, had 12 points in his first year in the WHL, 11in his second (and his first as a draft eligible player). He exploded for 62 points — including 30 goals — in 64 games in 2014-15, before leaping to 120 points (including 38 goals) in 72 games for the Regina Pats last year.
“No one told me (why I was passed over), but going from 12 points, 11 points, to 62 points, they thought maybe I was a fluke,” said Brooks. “But not being picked again motivated me to work harder. This last season just shows all my hard work, to get where I am.”
It helped, also, that he had a tryout with the New York Rangers in September, but it came to nothing concrete.
“It was good to get my feet wet going into last season, and show me the level I had to play at if I wanted to be successful and get drafted,” said Brooks. “I think it helped me elevate my game last year.”
Walker, too, had been passed over for two years before the Leafs took him 152nd overall.
“It was a learning experience both those years, maybe motivating me to put in a little extra work,” said Walker, a defenceman converted to forward by the Victoria Royals.
“I played both positions. That’s helped me, my versatility. I’m defi- nitely a forward now and dedicating my game to playing forward. But I’m not afraid to play defence.”
If the Leafs had not drafted Brooks, he would have been an unrestricted free agent, free to sign with any team that wanted him. He could have charted his own path. Still, he’s hap- py that the Leafs have locked up his rights.
“The draft was out of my control,” said Brooks. “Fortunately I was taken by the Leafs. I know there’s a lot of work that has to be put in to grab a spot, wherever it may be, the AHL, the ECHL. It’s a deep organization.”