Eventful 2021-22 Sets Brisson Up for Bright Future in VGK Organization

Brendan Brisson's speed usually carries him past defenders as he flies down the ice.
In the offseason, his speed is used to race out the door to get to the rink for training or to meet up with friends. He passes photos on his way out of his family's Los Angeles home of family trips and holidays. They're photos he's seen before.

It took a new photo to get Brisson to stop and divert his course from the parkway to memory lane. The shot of Brisson celebrating his game-winning goal for Team USA against Canada at the 2022 Winter Olympics is new at the Brisson household and is one that captures a highlight in a young hockey career just getting started.
Fans in Las Vegas heard Brisson's name called during the virtual 2020 NHL Draft as the Golden Knights announced they'd selected the young forward 29th overall from their draft headquarters at Rock Creek Cattle Company in Montana. He stayed on the radars of avid fans as he backed up the high praise he received as a first-round pick with his impressive showings at the college and international levels.
Most recently, Brisson donned the Silver and Gold for the Henderson Silver Knights and put up eight points (3G, 5A) in seven games in the AHL. His became a name that was hard to leave out of any conversation among fans discussing the present and future of the Vegas Golden Knights.
Brisson has endured the roller coaster ride that the COVID-19 pandemic sent the entire world on. As times and systems changed to adapt to a different world, Brisson's drive to become an NHL player remained constant. The 2021-22 season saw Brisson wear three different sweaters as the young forward suited up for the University of Michigan, Team USA at the Winter Olympics in Beijing and the Silver Knights for the tail end of the campaign.
As a sophomore for the Wolverines, Brisson set out to prove his decision to return to school was the right one after a strong freshman year in 2020-21. He experienced the challenges all college students faced early in the pandemic as classrooms become virtual, social functions went away and sporting events took place with no fans. Michigan was forced out of the 2021 NCAA Tournament due to positive COVID tests, but Brisson said the close-knit nature of the team was a reason the team was ready to compete in 2021-22.
"The only people you could hang out with were your teammates, so we just became so close," Brisson said. "It was pretty much the same team going into my sophomore year and that was probably one of the reasons we had so much success last year. I was super pumped at the beginning of the year looking around the room at all the talent that we had. We're also all best friends. It was a super good group of guys."
Brisson saw jumps in his statistical output as a sophomore with 42 points (21G, 21A) in 38 games as he doubled his point total from 2020-21. The Wolverines won the Big Ten championship and reached the Frozen Four where they fell in overtime to eventual-champion Denver. While on-ice success was a major point of growth for Brisson, it was the experience of being a student in Ann Arbor that sticks out for him under circumstances more normal - though still limited.
"We went to all the Michigan football games whenever we could," Brisson said. "The atmosphere there was just nuts. Everyone's got a Michigan jersey on and everyone's into it."
Like the men's hockey team, the Michigan football and men's basketball programs went far in their respective NCAA tournaments and the pride of being a Wolverine was a feeling Brisson plans to carry with him wherever his journey takes him.
"All of those athletes could probably say the same things as me about how close their teams were and what it was like to have the whole school behind us," Brisson said. "I'll be a Wolverine for the rest of my life."
In February, Brisson's course took him away from Ann Arbor and overseas to Beijing where he competed for Team USA at the Olympic Games. With so much high-end talent from all participating nations playing in the NHL and other professional leagues, rosters of superstars that were jotted down on paper for the Olympics were thrown out when the NHL pulled out of the games. This opened the door for Brisson to have the experience of a lifetime.
"When I found out the NHL wasn't going to the Olympics and that they'd be taking some college guys, I knew I had a chance because I was having a pretty good season," Brisson said.
In China, Brisson did everything he could under the regulations in place to make the most of the experience. Mingling with fellow athletes representing the United States allowed Brisson to learn about the different disciplines of competition and the athletes whose lives are centered around wearing the Red, White and Blue every four years. He also got to talk shop with some mega stars in the sports world.
"Representing Team USA was something really special and I learned a lot from that," Brisson said. "I had conversations with Shaun White and other freestyle skiers and snowboarders. I got to know what their sports are about and how they train. That was pretty cool."
Though the United States didn't earn a medal, the time in Beijing allowed Brisson to pick the brains of former NHLers who competed like former Detroit Red Wing Justin Abdelkader.
"He's a guy that's done everything," Brisson said. "He's won a Stanley Cup, played on the Olympic team and different USA teams, he won a National Championship at Michigan State. He told stories about all of that, and it gave me so much motivation."
Brisson said Abdelkader's tales of his own journey served as advice when season's end came around and there was a professional contract with the Vegas Golden Knights organization waiting in his inbox. Abdelkader shared a mindset that Brisson has adopted: every minute spent getting better should be done with the vision of playing on the highest stage.
With the stroke of a pen separating Brisson and his professional hockey dream, he leaned on that advice and the impression Vegas' fanbase made on him when he signed a tryout agreement with Henderson on April 12 and eventually a three-year entry-level contract with the Golden Knights on April 30.
"The Golden Knights are Vegas' team and Nevada's team," Brisson said. "That helps so much. I see the DM's I get from fans and all the support they've shown me. It really made the decision easy for me when it was time to sign that the whole city and whole state were behind me and were rooting for me."
Brisson said his big focus is on going from the wide-eyed college kid soaking in the pro experience to proving that he's ready to contribute at the highest level of hockey in the world. His first opportunity to put his progress on display comes at Development Camp presented by Martin-Harris Construction from July 11-16 at City National Arena.
Fans can see Brisson and the entire VGK prospect pool starting Monday at 2:15 p.m. and are welcome to all on-ice sessions throughout the week at the Vegas Golden Knights practice facility in Downtown Summerlin (Saturday's scrimmage is open exclusively to ticketed Season Ticket Members). The final three scrimmages of camp will be streamed live on VGK's digital platforms. A full schedule of the week can be found
here
and the full roster can be found
here
.