Leafs sign Brendan Brisson to one-year contract
The Toronto Maple Leafs announced on Friday that they’ve signed center Brendan Brisson to a one-year, $850,000 salary.
Brisson was an unrestricted free agent after the conclusion of his one-year, $775,000 contract with the New York Rangers for the 2025-26 season. Despite the fact that Brisson was still in his restricted free agent seasons, the Rangers opted not to give him a qualifying offer, sending him to the UFA market. However, unless Brisson plays at least 53 games for the Leafs this season, he will officially be a UFA through Group 6 status.
Should Brisson remain an RFA after this season, his qualifying offer would be $935,000. His contract is two-way, with his AHL salary coming in at $300,000.
Brisson spent a majority of his 2025-26 season in the AHL with the Rangers’ minor-league affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack. In 66 games with the Wolf Pack, he had 19 goals and 18 assists for 37 points. His goal total tied his career high set in 2023-24, while his assist and point totals fell one short of his career-best marks.
Brisson also played three games for the Rangers in 2025-26, registering one assist on the season, that being the tying goal in a comeback 3-2 shootout win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on February 28th.
Brisson was the 29th-overall pick for the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2020 NHL Draft, and spent parts of four seasons with the organization after college before he was dealt to the Rangers as part of the return for Reilly Smith.
The Leafs are coming off an active summer, as new general manager John Chayka looked to make his mark on the team in hopes of improvement after a disappointing 2025-26 campaign. In addition to winning the draft lottery and selecting Gavin McKenna, Toronto also acquired Darren Raddysh, Nick Paul and Emil Andrae and signed Sergei Bobrovsky, Jack Roslovic, Teddy Blueger, Colton Sissons and Brandon Duhaime in free agency. The Leafs are now $2,752,382 over the salary cap according to PuckPedia, but a long-term injury to Max Domi should put them under the cap to start the season.