Brisson Signed, Camp Days Away, and Toronto's Forward Depth Is Still a Patchwork

Brendan Brisson signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Maple Leafs on Thursday, the latest name added to a forward group that has been reshuffled all summer. The former Rangers prospect arrives days before training camp opens, which tells you something about where things stand.

The context is familiar by now. Nick Robertson is in Pittsburgh. Calle Jarnkrok is in Sweden. Matthews, Domi, Dakota Joshua, and Zack MacEwen are all still without clear return timelines. Toronto has been filling the gaps with whatever is available — Colton Sissons, Alexander Burmistrov on an ECHL deal, and now Brisson — and none of it adds up to a solved problem. It adds up to a roster that is functional on paper if everything breaks right, and thin if it doesn't.

Brisson is a two-way signing, which means the organization has an out if camp doesn't go his way. That's the honest framing here: this is a depth gamble with a safety valve, not a statement move. Toronto needs bodies who can skate into a lineup spot if the injury list doesn't clear, and Brisson is one of those bodies.

Camp will answer some of this. The bigger questions — when Matthews is back, whether the retooled forward corps has any cohesion — won't be settled by a late-August signing. But the Leafs are clearly still building the plane while the runway is running out.