{"id":553260,"date":"2026-03-22T13:08:18","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T13:08:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/553260\/"},"modified":"2026-03-22T13:08:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T13:08:18","slug":"brandon-buhr-cites-toronto-market-development-staff-john-prokop-as-reasons-for-signing-with-maple-leafs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/553260\/","title":{"rendered":"Brandon Buhr cites Toronto market, development staff, John Prokop as reasons for signing with Maple Leafs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brandon Buhr cites Toronto market, development staff, John Prokop as reasons for signing with Maple Leafs<\/p>\n

Toronto Maple Leafs<\/a> prospect Brandon Buhr is settling into his new surroundings after joining the AHL\u2019s Toronto Marlies this week.The 23-year-old inked a one-year entry-level contract<\/a> for the 2026-27 season on Wednesday, along with an amateur tryout for the remainder of the 2025-26 season with the Marlies. Buhr was fresh off completing his collegiate career, spending one year at Clarkson University and the last three at Union College.He joined the Marlies on Friday for his first practice as a professional player, telling reporters afterwards<\/a> that the pace was good and how cool it was to share the ice with a lot of skilled players.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u200aYeah, it was good. \u200aI developed my time management skill a lot,\u201d Buhr said on what he liked about his NCAA experience. \u201c\u200aI\u2019d say it gave me time to develop. I don\u2019t think I would\u2019ve been ready to do this when I first went in there. \u200aSo the college route really helped me get to where I need to be to be here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Buhr described himself<\/a> as a guy who likes to play hard, finish his checks, and produce offensively when he gets the chance to. He is coming off a productive senior year where he finished with a team-leading 36 points (19 goals and 17 assists) in 35 games. It was also a second consecutive season where he led the team in goals, with both seasons resulting in 19 goals.<\/p>\n

Buhr pointed to a multitude of reasons that factored into his decision to sign with the Leafs, beginning with the passion of the Toronto market.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u200aI mean, this market\u2019s great. Like they love hockey here,\u201d he said. \u200a\u201dI know that being from Vancouver that Toronto loves their hockey. So it was a pretty easy decision to come here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Being in a passionate market is understandably a tantalizing reason to want to sign with the Leafs, but it certainly helps that the team also possesses a strong development program. Buhr stated that everyone he spoke with raved about the development staff, which he quickly spotted just how many talented people were around to coach the players.<\/p>\n

One such person who gave him the rundown of what to expect was John Prokop, with whom he was teammates with Buhr for two seasons at Union College.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u200aHe told me what to expect. He\u2019s a great person, great player,\u201d Buhr said of Prokop. \u201c\u200aIt was a nice transition. He was my assistant captain my junior year and also his teammate in my sophomore year. So it was nice to have that, it really helped.\u201d<\/p>\n

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