Capitals sign, waive Brett Leason

The Washington Capitals are bringing back a familiar face to the organization. According to a team announcement, the Capitals have signed forward Brett Leason to a one-year, two-way contract worth $775K. The team subsequently placed him on waivers to eventually reassign him to the AHL’s Hershey Bears.

It’s been several years since Leason last suited up for the Bears. Leason, selected 56th overall in the 2019 NHL Draft, debuted with Hershey in the 2019-20 season after an impressive year with the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders. During his last campaign with the Raiders, the Calgary native scored 36 goals and 89 points in 55 games and another 10 goals and 25 points in 20 postseason appearances.

Unfortunately, Leason’s skill level didn’t transfer to the professional circuit for some time. Throughout his three years with the Bears, he put up relatively modest production, scoring 18 goals and 47 points in 114 games. During a brief run with the Capitals back in the 2021-22 campaign, Leason only registered three goals and six points in 36 contests.

Leason received a separate opportunity one year later, when the Anaheim Ducks claimed him off waivers before the start of the 2022-23 campaign. He became much more productive in an expanded role with Anaheim, scoring 22 goals and 48 points in 184 games while averaging 12:23 of ice time per night. Unfortunately, as they graduated more talent to the NHL level, the Ducks made Leason an unrestricted free agent this offseason when they opted not to extend a qualifying offer to him.

Today’s contract becomes the third one signed by Leason since the beginning of the offseason. He began training camp on a professional tryout agreement with the Minnesota Wild. After that didn’t work out, he has been practicing with the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers on a similar tryout agreement.