A Winning Habit
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Montreal Canadiens: Can Adam Brooks Be The Next Paul Byron?

By Sebastian High

MONTREAL, QC - APRIL 28: Adam Brooks #77 of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Cole Caufield #22 of the Montreal Canadiens watch as the puck is played during the third period at the Bell Centre on April 28, 2021 in Montreal, Canada. The Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4-1. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC - APRIL 28: Adam Brooks #77 of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Cole Caufield #22 of the Montreal Canadiens watch as the puck is played during the third period at the Bell Centre on April 28, 2021 in Montreal, Canada. The Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4-1. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /
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TORONTO, ON – MAY 27: Jesperi Kotkaniemi #15 of the Montreal Canadiens skates against Adam Brooks #77 of the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game Five of the First Round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on May 27, 2021 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Canadiens defeated the Maple Leafs 4-3 in overtime. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON – MAY 27: Jesperi Kotkaniemi #15 of the Montreal Canadiens skates against Adam Brooks #77 of the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game Five of the First Round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on May 27, 2021 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Canadiens defeated the Maple Leafs 4-3 in overtime. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /

Brooks was twice passed over in the NHL Entry Draft before the Leafs picked him up in the fourth round in 2016 following a ridiculous season with the Regina Pats in the WHL in which he posted 38 goals and 120 points in 72 games, topping the league in points, ahead of a 19-year-old Matthew Barzal and a 16-year-old Nolan Patrick. He then returned to captain Regina the next season, improving on his previous season with 43 goals and 130 points in 66 games, quite nearly a 2 points per game average. He just barely lost the scoring title to his linemate Sam Steel, who got one more point, but both were well ahead of the third-placed Tyler Wong who had 109 points.

So Brooks knew how to score points as a more mature player in junior, something that wasn’t particularly apparent in his draft year when he only had 4 goals and 11 points in 60 games; he certainly was a late bloomer. His ability to produce offensively continued to demonstrate itself in the AHL, where he has accumulated 42 goals and 92 points in 164 games. In a very small NHL sample of 18 games, Brooks has scored 4 goals and 8 points, which is certainly nothing to scoff at.

This is all to show that Brooks does have some point-production upside, just like Paul Byron did when the Habs claimed him. Byron did, of course, have a far more established track record of producing at the NHL level (16 goals and 46 points in 130 games), but he was a 26-year-old among the last cuts of training camp, which is exactly what Adam Brooks was while just being a year younger.

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