According to NHL insiders, it is only a matter of time until Justin Brazeau signs an NHL deal.
The Battalion 61-goal man is attracting a lot of attention as the team prepares for its first-round matchup against the Niagara IceDogs. TSN NHL Insider Darren Dreger believes as many as five to seven NHL teams are in the mix for the 6’6” forward from New Liskeard.
Dreger believes Toronto, Boston, St. Louis, Nashville, Vegas and Columbus are all intrigued by Brazeau’s size and scoring ability.
The Insider expects all those teams to have eyes on him during game one of the Battalion-IceDogs series which starts in St. Catharines on Thursday night.
Brazeau was flattered to hear his name part as a conversation piece on a national televised sports show.
"It's pretty cool, I was watching TSN and see my name pop out was kind of weird but it is certainly nice for them to give me a shoutout like that and it obviously helps with hopefully getting an NHL contract at the end of the year, so it's definitely nice," Brazeau stated prior to practice Wednesday afternoon.
Brazeau finished his final regular season of junior hockey first overall in OHL goal scoring and second in total points with 113 in 2018-19.
Earlier this week, Brazeau was named the winner of the OHL’s Jim Mahon Memorial Trophy as the league’s top scoring right winger.
See related: Battalion star wins OHL award
The 21-year-old former New Liskeard Cubs forward set a new Battalion mark for goals in a season and is one of just three North Bay OHL stars to surpass the 60 goal plateau joining former Centennials sniper Vitali Yachmenev who scored 61 in 1993-94, and Nick Kypreos who netted 62 during the 1985-86 season.
Brazeau became just the second Battalion player to join the OHL’s century club for points in a season following Wojtek Wolski who produced 128 points in 2005-06. It’s also the first time North Bay fans have seen a 100-point player since Trevor Gallant broke the century mark by putting up 105 points for the Centennials in 1995-96.
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