The Sheet with Jeff Marek - On the Sheet: Pat Brisson on Gavin McKenna, Player Empowerment, Quinn and Jack Hughes, and more

Episode Date: May 7, 2026

CAA NHL player agent Pat Brisson joins the show to discuss top prospect Gavin McKenna, the fallout from the lottery, and what to expect at the upcoming NHL Draft, while also pulling back the curtain on the evolving landscape of the NHL agent world.SHOUTOUT TO OUR SPONSORS!!👍🏼 Fan Duel: https://www.fanduel.com/👍🏼 Ninja: https://www.sharkninja.ca/ninja-crispi-pro-6-in-1-countertop-glass-air-fryer-rose-quartz/AS101CRS.html?utm_source=Meta&utm_medium=Paid+Social&utm_campaign=H1NinjaCrispi&utm_content=NinjaEN&dwvar_AS101CRS_color=cdb9b8Reach out to [e-mail] to connect with our Sales Team and discuss opportunities to partner with us!If you liked this, check out:🚨 OTT - Coming in Hot Sens | https://www.youtube.com/c/thewallyandmethotshow🚨 TOR - LeafsNation | https://www.youtube.com/@theleafsnation401🚨 EDM - OilersNation | https://www.youtube.com/@Oilersnationdotcom🚨 VAN - CanucksArmy | https://www.youtube.com/@Canucks_Army🚨 CGY - FlamesNation | https://www.youtube.com/@FNBarnBurner🚨 Daily Faceoff Fantasy & Betting | www.youtube.com/@DFOFantasyandBetting____________________________________________________________________________________________Connect with us on ⬇️Link Tree: https://linktr.ee/daily_faceoff💻 Website: https://www.dailyfaceoff.com🐦 Follow on twitter: https://x.com/DailyFaceoff💻 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dailyfaceoffDaily Faceoff Merch:https://nationgear.ca/collections/daily-faceoffReach out to [e-mail] to connect with our Sales Team and discuss opportunities to partner with us! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the meantime, we'll shift our attention back to a conversation we had earlier about Gavin McKenna. And who better to talk to about Gavin McKenna? Well, other than Gavin McKenna, there's his agent Pat Brissons from CAA. Pat, first of all, thanks for joining us here today and taking time out of what is a very busy schedule. Curious about Gavin McKenna. First of all, what types of conversations have you had with Gavin since the lottery? Like that's a huge day for all the teams and certainly all the players. But, you know, your client is a presumptive first overall pick at this year's draft.

What are the nature of the conversation's been like post-Mapleafs win in the lottery? Well, overall, when you get a player like Gavin, who's, you know, rank number one like this, it's always an exciting time. There's also other good players in the draft. And so we talked about the possibilities, you know. And then when, you know, obviously the odds with the leaves were pretty low compared to Vancouver and Chicago. And so you always talk about the possibilities and all that and what happens. I mean, then you start talking about what also it could be.

But, you know, we haven't really dove too deep into it yet, to be honest with you. Sure. Collectively here. So, but it was a surprise. Like even the sharks moving to second, you know. you've had, and we'll think about, you know, players like, I don't know, Sydney Crosby, Nathan McKinnon, like you've had players that have gone first overall and everybody knew they were going first overall. I'm curious, like, how do you prepare a client for something like that?

What do you do? Yeah, well, you know, the opportunity with Sydney, obviously, that was like 20 years ago, things are different today. The Combine, you know, we'll have many, many more conversations. We're going to have more discussions. There's going to be more of all of that going on between now in June 26, so to speak. So usually we have a pretty good idea leading up to the draft like a few days before, a week or so before. But honestly, the exception of perhaps, even I remember when John Tavares went first overall,

Garst Snow kept his cards very close to his vest. Yeah, it had meant one second. And we represent Matt B. Shane as well. and so I don't know if you recall, he had all three of him at his house somehow on a mini tour. Gartha is a good poker player. But no, I would say it's a process right now

and there's going to be a lot of conversations and a lot of possibilities and all that. So we're equipped for that. We're ready for it and excited at the same time. Can I pick up on that really quick? I'm going to hand us to you, Greg, in a second. Pat, about that John Tavar's one of the things I've always wondered about because you're right, like Garstow kept everything

really, really close. And every couple of days there was, and you know how, you know, things get, get out in the media marketplace. It was like, oh, the owner wants headman. Garstow wants John Tavares. Oh, there's a wild guy here. Like, when you go through, when you see things like that, like, would you talk to John and Matt about it and say, like, look, just ignore all this? Like, when all these things, because it was like so obvious that the Islanders were trying to, like, cloud the whole process and not give away. Yeah.

He was like, what went through your mind? Well, it was amusing in a sense. Not that much fun, to be honest with you, especially the 24. It was a draft in Montreal, I think the draft was in Montreal. Because Garth, the night before, I was kind of chasing. Like, Garth, you got to tell me. I remember because he played a good game. He played a good game.

Like, even Owen Power, we knew, we knew like 24 hours before. But then we kept it pretty quiet with Kevin Adams, like even with the powers and all that there were rumors that he was going somewhere else to at the end of it. But we have to also respect the organization and stay away from letting the media know, so to speak, if we know, for sure, officially. We have to respect the process. But we also have to work with our clients and making sure that they're prepared for the alternative to, for the possibility to. Because the reactions are now so important.

too, as you know, even the draft lottery when it's live, you know, you see reactions. We didn't have that this year. Yeah. No, we did not have that this year. No, no, no, Connor McDavid memes for Gavin McKenna, luckily at the NHDraft. Pat, when we spoke before the season, we talked about this path that Gavin decided to take going from Canadian Junior to Penn State University, the NIL money that was involved in all of that, too. Now that it's all said and done, now that he's, the draft lottery, has been set and all that stuff.

How do you feel Gavin's journey at Penn State will have an impact on other players that might be considering that path? Yeah, I do think, you know, again, it's part of the process. It was a great experience for him because he got out of his comfort zone. You know, he could have played another year in the dub,

and it would have been his third year, essentially almost as four. You know, he played at 15. He played a few games. So for him to get into a situation where it was a challenge, it was a new environment, it was a trailblazers decision. I do believe, Greg, it's going to have an impact on decisions in the future for young prospects. And you know what?

Every prospect's different. Some peak at a certain time. Some, you know, we have to evaluate that as well where they're at in their development. And in Gavin's case, we didn't have to push hard. I think when he made the decision, I know when he made the decision, he was completely convinced it was the right thing to do because you've got to work on on on your habits too you know you don't want to become a too too complacent too too too comfortable because the next level is the next level as we see now during the regular season and now the playoffs in the NHL you have to learn how to do the little things

right and to be coachable and all that and go through adversity so we do we like what he's gone through this year he's becoming a better player and a better man for it and and a better prospect let me picking up on the process to something and this is no offense to to Godowski here, whatever, at Penn State. But post-world juniors, like, we really saw Gavin McKenna take off. How much of a factor in, even though it was only a couple of weeks, how much of a factor was Dale Hunter, Dale Hunter this year for Gavin? Anytime you can have Dale Hunter as a coach when you're going through your development,

it's a good, I mean, the guy's got such a great pedigree. I mean, he's coach saw many grades, you know, so I do believe it was. it was beneficial to see a different approach. And to Gavin, I mean, unfortunately, fortunately, he may go through another five to six coaches in the NHL. Who knows how it works, you know? The lifespan of a coach now could be three years, four years, becomes like, so, you know,

and Dale is a hard coach, but at the same time he understands talent, and he, I do believe, it was extremely beneficial. And we saw in the second half, and guys done a great job too. you know, working with that. And again, the process is so important. Going through these things, it's how you go through

and what you get out of it. Everything's an experience. It's what you do with it. And we do believe that GAV really benefited from his decisions, and he did have a much better second half, you know. And so credit to him. And Penn State was, they were fantastic. The coaching staff were great to him and his teammates and all that.

It was a fantastic experience. That's awesome. I want to switch gears for a second. So for two straight off seasons, we've seen a superstar player kind of take a wait and see approach about returning to their team. It was Connor McDavid. Last year, it was Austin Matthews now. This year, apparently, trying to wait it out to see what their team does and kind of

holding it over their heads a little bit that, hey, I might not want to participate in the timeline that you guys are establishing. How do you feel about this trend, this sort of player empowerment trend? And do you believe that it's going to be a trend where a lot more star players are exerting that kind of pressure on their teams to improve or I might ask out of here. I don't call it a trend. I call it more of a where the society is in general. I mean,

people have, they're not afraid to express their opinions. They're not afraid to make decisions. They're not afraid to hire or fire people. It's just the world we live in now and it's going to become more and more of that, you know, and you're going to see more short-term deals and guys moving perhaps. And in the word like loyalty.

I said, why is you not loyal anymore? Well, you know, we're living in the world, unfortunately, in a sense, at times where people a little bit more, it's about my career, myself. It's just the world we live in. And I'm careful when I say this. This isn't about hockey only. It's just everywhere, like even the four of us, the three of us on this call. So we're going to see that where, hey, I want to see what, from an organization standpoint,

where do you have in mind? What's your plan? And, you know, how am I going to, you know, potentially? actually benefit from signing an extra two or three years. What's coming? I'm especially, especially the hot assets, the ones that are moving the needles,

and they have leverage, and they should do it. I mean, it's a business, too. At the end of the day, and revenues are increasing. The cap now we started at 104. It's going to be 114 next year.

It might be at 125 the following year. We're all about the revenues. We're growing the pie. And by virtue of that, two players have decisions to make because they do have a lot of pressure. There's a lot of pressure on these guys. People don't see a lot of time. And general, we see the surface, but there's a lot of mental and the physical.

We all hear about the broken jaw, the, you know, the bad hip and all that in the playoffs playing through injuries. But also, what about the mental part? What about the pressure these pressure these players applying on themselves? So they're entitled to make decisions for what makes them perform better and mentally and physically. I am curious about sort of what goes into the decision too. Like, we've all talked a lot about the state tax issue. in the United States. And we've talked about winning

and how much that matters to players. And I thought the, like I'll tell you, Pat, I thought the opening round was fascinating where you had the highest taxed province in Canada beat the lowest tax state in Tampa. And I said to myself, what am I going to do with this now? So here's the question.

Generally, like wide brush, like what means more to players? Putting a little more money in the jeans or state tax or being competitive. Because we just saw much trouble. I'll be tamper. I don't know what to do with it. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, Montreal's got a nice young team. But, you know, at the end of the day,

it's a good point. It's a good point, guys. You know, like, it's a, it's a bucket where within the bucket, sure, the taxes have something to do with it. It's not the majority of the major decision, but the fit, the well-being and the family on and off the ice. How are the ownership and the team is

treating their players? What are the odds of winning and benefiting from having a better career if I'm here, here, here, or there? So, but at the end of the day, it doesn't come down to solely the taxes. But if it's on the line when a player has a chance to live in the Sunbelt and, you know,

whether it's Texas, you know, Nevada or perhaps, you know, Florida, I mean, there's some advantages to that. But also all these teams we just mentioned, they have great teams and great, really good organizations. They've been proven teams. So, you know, winning attracts. You know, in the San Jose Sharks and the Anaheim

Ducks right now, they're young teams in a state of California. They're going to be attracting talent. And I don't see that talent's got to be leaving quick unless, you know, they start, you don't do things right. So the organization has a lot to do with it as well. You mentioned Sunbelt. That talent will pay some state taxes in California, baby. That town will pay some state taxes.

They will. They will. We have more son, but we're paying taxes. The thing that I wonder about, too. And Pat, you can speak with some authority on this because I know how much health and recovery is important to you as an individual. when you're a player, like when you play in Florida

or you play in Dallas, like living and playing in the sun and you walk out the front door and it's a shot of vitamin D and your body feels good. Like Yeah, you just touch a cord.

Like that's like how much of an advantage right there, Pat, for players. Yeah, you mentioned well-being and the recovery and you know, you know, biohacking, so to speak. I mean, we also live in the world right now. Longevity is important.

It does. You know, you walk bare feet in January outside to ground, do more grounding and there's some sunlight in your eyes and get more vitamin Ds. It does impact the morale. It does impact the monocondria and the recovery, all of the above, the sleep and all of that, for sure. Yeah. You can't avoid that.

That's why red light therapy. Hang on, hang on, hang on, let Pac go on red light therapy here. I was going to say Red Light Therapy is a good. No, Red Light Therapy is a good thing. And in Canada, probably they should be selling a lot more of these units. I agree. I agree. There you go.

Might also been the first reference to the powerhouse of the cell we've ever had here on the podcast, Matt. That was a very impressive play there, by Pat Brouson. I wanted to ask you about one of your clients currently thriving in the playoffs, Quinn Hughes. First off, where's the wind blowing on Quinn potentially extending with the Minnesota Wild? It's been the status quo, honestly, from the day that he got traded there, was very clear, you know, with everyone, and including Quinn, was very clear with me that this is a discussion and a topic that we'll, you know, we'll cross, you know, at the end of the season, so it speaks. So right now, he's fully concentrated in trying to, you know, win the cup and getting back in the series, but we haven't had any conversations about it. As a follow-up, there's been some spec, you mentioned short-term contracts before, and there's been some speculation that, you know, if anyone who can go on Puckpedia knows,

if Quinn takes three in Minnesota, that would bring up right up to 2030 when his brother, Jack, is a free agent for the New Jersey Devils. Have you ever had a discussion with Quinn and Jack about the possibility of both hitting the market at the same time? You know, between brothers, there's always so many conversations. What about this? What about that? And, you know, but we haven't really yet any specific about this one, perhaps. I mean, those are things that are, you know, those are possibilities.

I'm not going to deny the fact, but when you have three brothers getting together during the summertime or the end of the offseason, rarely during the off season, we have a lot of funny conversations about a lot of funny stuff that is very unique. And all three of them are, you know, studs, you know, as we all know, it's rare that we see that combination. They're moving the needle, all of them. So we have, yeah, so it'll be. great, you know, fascinating summer. We're looking forward to all the, what we have coming up here in the next two months. Okay, last month, because I know you have a meeting to get to and we appreciate your time and want to be respectful of it.

I think a lot of people have always been curious, Pat, about you specifically, you know, like the idea of agents working in management for teams. Listen, Ken's done a wonderful job with the Montreal Canadiens. That's the obvious example right now. has that ever been a temptation or an interest for you? I'm pretty sure that teams have been interested and having a look at, you know, maybe Pat Rieson fits here. Would that ever be of interest to you? Or quite bluntly, could you even afford the pay cut,

considering all your superstar clients you have? Well, you know, I see the general managers and team presidents of hockey ops are getting good money right now too. I mean, everything's going on the rise from a financial standpoint. But like a player, like all of us, we have to always look at our options. We have to evaluate ourselves. We have to see what makes us tick and what's important to us. And if you don't have any options in life, I wouldn't say you're in trouble, but it's not the kind of life I want to live.

First of all, I'd like to have options. So what I mean by that, I'd like to reevaluate, readap myself, reinvent myself. And we've done that with the agency the past 35 years. We've been able to readap ourselves and always get, you know, separate ourselves in many categories. And so I'm always intrigued to what's best and continue to grow, you know, our career, my career, my family's career, so to speak. And so, but as far as I've had opportunities,

I've had discussions that, you know, I was listening to and perhaps I want to grow as a person too and I want to understand. But again, I'm so fascinated about the, the growth of our business and what we've done, what we continue to do. I mean, if Gavin goes first, obviously, it's an exciting time. And we had, you know, it's going to be a 10th first overall pick, the last 20 years. As an agency, it's very exciting.

And for us, what we've done with our group and continue to grow. And it never gets any better. I tell people you never arrive, you know, you keep pushing yourself. And I think I'm working harder now and I did 15 years ago. And you always take time for us. With the cap going up in your agent fee, you'll be able to buy an expansion team within the next five years, Pat. You'll be fine. You can just run a team.

What do you want? What do you want? Houston or Atlanta. What do you want, Patrick? You know, Greg, you know, the TV buys the values of the franchise in sports, it's gone. I mean, we could have bought it. You know, the Pittsburgh Penguins were sold for sale at 9. And I went in the 05 for what, 110 million.

And now they just went for 1-7 or they're going for 1-7. And so it's only going to go. So Blinking I is going to be the values of these hockey franchise would between $3 to $5 million within five years. Absolutely. Always appreciate you popping by. Pat, thanks so much for this. Thank you, guys. Enjoy the rest of your day.

There is. Pat Brissol from CA. Thanks, Pat. That's not every day.