Brooks primed to take next step with Leafs As Adam Brooks attends development camp with the Toronto Maple Leafs this week, TSN's Kristen Shilton writes the young centre is primed to face the challenges that await him as a pro hockey player.

Kristen Shilton TSN Toronto Maple Leafs Reporter Follow|Archive

TORONTO – When it comes to facing a challenge head-on, Adam Brooks has become a bit of a savant.

The 21-year-old centre is attending his second Maple Leafs development camp this week after the team drafted him 92nd overall in 2016. It was the third time Brooks had been draft-eligible, and despite posting some excellent numbers with the WHL’s Regina Pats (62 points in 2014-15; 120 points 2015-16), 30 teams kept their door closed to Brooks - including Toronto.

But the Winnipeg native didn’t let the oversight deter him, and on June 29 the Leafs signed him to a three-year entry level contract as his junior career came to a close with his fifth campaign in Regina.

“Whenever you’re passed over twice, you get a little frustrated, get a little fire in your belly,” Brooks said after camp practice on Saturday. “You go out there and work a little bit harder to get drafted and then you’re seeing all your buddies get drafted [instead]. You’re never 100 per cent positive what’s going to happen for you.”

Now there’s some clarity. The Leafs had poor organizational depth at centre even before inking Brooks, and he looks primed to step into a prominent role with the Toronto Marlies next season. It’s a step Brooks has longed to take since getting his first “real” taste of professional hockey at last year’s training camp.

“When I went back [to Regina], I don’t know if I was disappointed – obviously you want to play at the top level – but I was also excited knowing we were going to have a good team,” Brooks said. “I took a lot out of [training camp], being around NHL guys every day. It was exciting. But it was a blessing to go back and play a lot [in Regina] and hopefully it helped my game grow.”

Listed at 5-foot-11 and 176 pounds, Brooks is just the latest of the Leafs’ prospects to prove good things can come in traditionally undersized packages. The questions about his size and whether it will hurt his ability to retrieve pucks and forecheck at the next level were apparent even before the Leafs drafted him, and have intensified ever since.

Without betraying a hint of exasperation, Brooks addresses the topic with typical aplomb.

“When I was younger, I don’t want to say I was one of the bigger guys but I was always towards the top [in size]. I guess I just kind of stopped growing,” Brooks said, laughing. “But it was never a concern. I was always able to think the game and I think that helped me as guys seemed to pass me in height.”

It may not have been his first choice, but Brooks' victory lap in Regina allowed him to unlock another sought-after achievement – being named team captain. Brooks then closed out his WHL career with his finest performance to date, posting 130 points (43 goals, 87 assists) in 66 games, good for second in the CHL behind teammate Sam Steel, who had 131 points.

When Brooks got his marching orders from the Leafs last September, they told him not to worry about offensive production – that part comes naturally now. Instead they encouraged him to zero in on his 200-foot game and continue evolving as a person. Being captain helped him deliver on that.

“Although you may be a leader in your own right, when you take on that letter it gives you a little more responsibility, people look to you a little bit more,” Brooks said. “It helped me mature as a person, having to go out there and show the young guys what has to be done on a day-to-day basis. Ultimately I think it made me become a better person and a better player.”

Leafs’ camp invitee Jonathan Smart can attest to Brooks’ impact on the Pats. Traded to Regina from the Kelowna Rockets last season, the 18-year-old recognized something special about the team captain immediately.

“He was a huge leader on our team and [is now] one of my close friends,” Smart said. “He works hard, comes to the rink every day and you know he’s going to bring it. He was definitely a spark plug for our team and a guy everyone looked up to.”

Smart was in touch with Brooks before heading to camp, noting, “I made sure to shoot him a text so I knew what was going on and he got me pretty prepared”. But he’s not the only familiar face in the sea of 57 attendees for Brooks. Free agent invitee Jordan Papirny has backstopped two WHL teams – the Swift Current Broncos and Brandon Wheat Kings – over the last five years, and seen plenty of Brooks around his net.

“We’ve had the chance to chat a little bit [here], reminisce about the last couple years and all the times he’s scored on me,” joked Papirny. “He’s a really good player, an elite goal scorer. He’s always in the right places, doing the right things. He’s very dangerous with the puck on his stick. I really respect him as a player.”

Papriny’s Broncos hadn’t beaten Brooks’ Pats all last season when the teams were pitted against each other in the WHL’s Eastern Conference Final. Regina immediately dropped Game 1 and then Brooks suffered a leg injury in Game 2, missing the next two tilts. The Pats went down 3-1 in the series, before rallying to punch their ticket to the WHL Final against Seattle. Brooks was injured there too, taking a hard hit in Game 1 and sitting out until Game 6, when the Pats were eliminated in overtime.

Admitting it was “frustrating” to miss time and see his team fall short of the ultimate goal, Brooks has never dwelled on what might have been. If he had, the challenge that awaits him now might never have come to be.

“When you’re around for five years you develop a lot of relationships around the city and around the rink,” he said. “It’s hard going away from them, but when you turn 21 it’s time to move on. To see some new things maybe you haven’t seen before, it’s part of growing up and it’s part of growing your game.”