Justin Brazeau took a unique path to the NHL. After his junior career, he joined the Toronto Maple Leafs organization. In his three years there, he made more appearances in the ECHL than in the American Hockey League (AHL). Having not gotten a shot at the NHL, Brazeau decided it was time to hang up the skates. He enrolled as a 22-year-old freshman kinesiology student at the University of Toronto. That is when the Bruins came calling. They convinced the forward to give their organization a shot.
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Brazeau played the 2021-22 season in Providence with a brief stint with the team’s ECHL affiliate, the Maine Mariners. In 69 games across the two teams he put up an impressive 25 goals and 26 assists. He continued to shine the following season, posting 45 points in 67 games, all of which were in the AHL. His 37 points in 49 games to start the 2023-24 season in Providence were enough: the Bruins signed him to a two-year contract and called him up to the big club. Brazeau’s unlikely journey to the NHL was complete.
Impactful Call-up
Brazeau is not easy to miss when he is on the ice: he is six-foot-five and 220 pounds. He plays all of that, consistently finding himself in front of the net. At his best, he is a physical nightmare for opposing defensemen to handle, and his first NHL goal in his first NHL game came appropriately. Jesper Boqvist won a puck battle to the right of Dallas Stars’ netminder Jake Oettinger. He looped beneath the goal line, possessing the puck. Brazeau put himself in perfect position, muscling himself open around the defensive effort of Ryan Suter. Boqvist found Brazeau, who did not miss, beating Oettinger over his glove.
Brazeau was an impact player for the Bruins throughout his 19 regular-season games in the black and gold. He scored his second and third NHL goals in a 6-2 win against the Ottawa Senators for his first multi-point game. Just two days later, he registered a goal and an assist against the New York Rangers, and two days after that, he scored on the road against the Philadelphia Flyers for a three-game goal streak. His regular season ended early when he suffered an upper-body injury against the Nashville Predators on the second of April. However, it was clear by then that the Bruins had themselves a steal at the league minimum. Brazeau would not be going back to the AHL.
Playoff Presence
Brazeau returned from injury in Game 5 of the Bruins first-round series against the organization where he started his career. After a quiet Games 5 and 6, he picked up a secondary assist on Hampus Lindholm’s game-tying goal in the series finale after barely missing the net on his own shot. Perhaps his most memorable postseason play came in Game 1 against the Florida Panthers. The Bruins found themselves in transition, and the winger was able to get open. He flew past Aaron Ekblad and found himself one-on-one with goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky. On a strong drive to the net, he pulled the puck to his backhand and beat the Panthers goalie above his right pad for a beautiful goal, which ended up being his only one of the postseason.
Player Grade: A
Brazeau gets an A on the season. He proved himself in the AHL, earned a shot, made his NHL debut, and capitalized on it, proving that he will be a valuable bottom-six forward for the Bruins in the future. The Bruins should be over the moon that they get the 26-year-old for another year at the league minimum, and he figures to play a key role as a physical presence who will produce a respectable amount of offense next season.
