Prince George Cougars Brewer was drafted in the sixth round, 81st overall, by the
Prince George Cougars in the
1994 WHL bantam draft. After being drafted, he played one final season with the Jardine Blazers, recording 38 points in only forty games. The following year, Brewer began his WHL career with the Cougars, playing 63 games in the
1995–96 season. Brewer finished his rookie WHL season with fourteen points, including four goals, and was named Cougars' Rookie of the Year. He doubled his point total from the previous season, finishing with 29 points in 71 games played. Brewer followed his regular season by helping the Cougars go on a
playoff run. After clinching the last spot in the West Division with a losing record, the Cougars defeated the number-one seed
Portland Winter Hawks in the
conference quarterfinals and the third-ranked
Spokane Chiefs in the
conference semifinals before finally losing to the second-ranked
Seattle Thunderbirds in the
Western Conference final. Brewer's
final season with Prince George was his best, statistically, in the WHL. After representing Canada at the
1998 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, he was named to the Western Conference team for the WHL All-Star Game in
Regina,
Saskatchewan, which he missed, as well as much of the season, due to injury. However, Brewer finished the year with 33 points in only 34 games, a near one point-per-game average, and was named to the WHL West Second All-Star Team. Brewer was the highest ranked defenceman at sixth overall among North American skaters heading into the
1997 NHL entry draft. He was drafted fifth overall by the
New York Islanders in June 1997.
New York Islanders Just over a year after being drafted, Brewer signed his first professional contract with his draft team, the New York Islanders, in August 1998. Entering the NHL, Brewer was regarded as a future
Norris Trophy candidate, and as a result, his contract was an entry level three-year, $2.775-million deal complemented by a $1-million signing bonus, the highest base salary available for a rookie. Brewer made his NHL debut on October 10, 1998, against the
Pittsburgh Penguins, and on November 5, Brewer scored his first career goal against the
Carolina Hurricanes'
Trevor Kidd. Brewer finished his rookie season with eleven points in 63 games. It was speculated that the reason behind this move was laziness by Brewer, who was benched during the final thirty minutes by head coach
Butch Goring after losing a race for the puck against
Mike Knuble in the Islanders' October 11, 1999, loss to the
New York Rangers. Brewer also took a bad penalty earlier in the game, putting the Islanders down two men. After playing 26 games with the Islanders in which he only recorded two assists, Brewer was reassigned to the Lock Monsters on January 8, 2000, for the remainder of the season. Shortly after joining the Lock Monsters, Brewer suffered a sprained knee and missed the next two-and-a-half months of the season. Brewer went on to play 25 games for the Lock Monsters, recording two goals and two assists. He also participated in his first professional playoffs, as the Lock Monsters swept the
Saint John Flames in three games in the first round, before being swept themselves in four games in the Eastern Conference semifinals by the
Providence Bruins.
Edmonton Oilers At the
2000 NHL entry draft, the
Islanders traded Brewer,
Josh Green and their second round selection (
Brad Winchester) in the same draft to the
Edmonton Oilers for
Roman Hamrlík. Although surprised to be traded, Brewer was excited at the prospect of playing for the Oilers, who saw Brewer as a top-four defenceman. However, Brewer's Oiler career began on a sour note as he suffered a bruised left
hip and
tailbone in his first game with the team. Brewer missed the next four games before returning to the lineup. Brewer scored his first goal as an Oiler on November 7, 2000, against the New York Rangers. Brewer finished his first Oiler season with career highs in goals, assists and points, as well as the best
plus/minus rating on the Oilers team, a plus-15. Brewer had six points, but the Oilers were eliminated four games to two by the Stars. The Oilers re-signed Brewer, who was a free agent, to a one-year, $907,500 contract in August 2001. In his
second season with the Oilers, Brewer was assigned to play against the opposing teams' best offensive players by Oilers head coach
Craig MacTavish. Brewer began to play more minutes in games, typically placing among the NHL leaders in average minutes played per game. He finished with career highs for assists and points and set a career high for goals for the third consecutive season. He appeared in his second NHL playoffs, another
quarterfinal series against the Dallas Stars in which the Oilers were once again eliminated four games to two. Brewer finished the playoffs with four points in the Oilers' six games. Later in the season, in a game on January 29, 2004, versus the
Chicago Blackhawks, Brewer recorded his one-hundredth career point. Brewer was unable to play out his new contract due to the
2004–05 NHL lockout.
St. Louis Blues in November 2005. In August 2005, following the lockout, the Oilers traded Brewer,
Jeff Woywitka and
Doug Lynch to the
St. Louis Blues in exchange for defenceman
Chris Pronger. At the time of the trade, Brewer was a restricted free agent, so on August 15, 2005, Brewer accepted the Blues' qualifying offer, signing a one-year, $2-million contract. Brewer's
first season with the Blues was a particularly poor one. After playing the first 18 games of the season, Brewer separated his
shoulder on November 16, 2005, in a 2–0 victory over the
Columbus Blue Jackets. Brewer missed ten games before being activated from the
injured reserve list, returning to the St. Louis line-up for a game on December 17, 2005, against the
Philadelphia Flyers. Less than a month later, in a game on January 13, 2006, against the
Atlanta Thrashers, Brewer collided with the Thrashers'
centre Karl Stewart, and
dislocated his left shoulder, which ended his season. In just 32 games, Brewer finished his season with nine points, including six goals, two shy of his career best of eight set in the
2002–03 season. Despite his limited play, the Blues re-signed Brewer to a one-year, $2.014 million contract for the
2006–07 season. Brewer's
second season with the Blues began as a disappointment. By the first half of December 2006, Brewer had only amassed six points and a
plus-minus rating of –11, often referred to as "the worst player on the ice" by both the media and Blues fans alike. Brewer was often involved in trade rumours, as he was set to become an unrestricted free agent following the completion of the season. Brewer believed his performance was the result of having only played in 32 NHL games since the
2003–04 season. Over the next nineteen games, Brewer changed his –11 into a +2 and became an integral part of the Blues' defence. Brewer continued his turnaround through the end of the season, finishing the year with six goals and 23 assists for 29 points, tying his career high for points set in the
2002–03 season and setting a new career high for assists. His play and leadership abilities were recognized, when on February 8, 2008, Brewer was named as the
nineteenth captain in the history of the St. Louis Blues, filling the vacancy created when former Blues captain
Dallas Drake had his contract
bought out following the
2006–07 season. On February 17, 2008, in a game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, Brewer set a career high for points in a game with four, all assists, eclipsing his previous career high of three points set on January 16, 2007. Brewer finished the season with only one goal in his 77 games played, his lowest goal total since the
1999–2000 season, although he added 21 assists, three short of a career high. At the completion of the season, Brewer underwent
reconstructive surgery on his right shoulder to repair damage suffered in a
fight in the Blues' season opening game against the Phoenix Coyotes on October 4, 2007. Despite Brewer's end-of-season shoulder surgery, he was able to join the Blues for his
fourth season with the team in time for their season-opening game against the Nashville Predators, where he led the Blues with 24:43 of ice time in a 5–2 victory. Eight days later, Brewer played in his 600th career NHL game, a 4–3 shootout victory against the Chicago Blackhawks. Prior to the Christmas break, Brewer underwent season-ending back surgery. The surgery ended Brewer's season after only 28 games played and six points, his lowest games played and point totals since his sophomore season with the New York Islanders. Brewer subsequently underwent two more surgeries that off-season, including a second back surgery in April and a knee surgery in August. Unlike the previous season, Brewer's off-season surgeries delayed the start of his
fifth season with the Blues until the team's eleventh game of the season, a 2–0 loss to the Arizona Coyotes. Brewer had missed the Blues' previous 64 games prior to his return against the Coyotes, which was earlier than expected after rehabbing from his back surgeries that had been considered career threatening. Brewer's health largely remained stable throughout the season as he finished the year with 15 points in 59 games played, including tying his career-high in goals with eight. Brewer remained healthy well into the season, only missing one game in February due to his wife being in labour. However, as the 2011 NHL trade deadline approached, Brewer's name was mentioned in trade rumours.
Tampa Bay Lightning On February 18, 2011, Brewer was traded to the
Tampa Bay Lightning for
Brock Beukeboom and Tampa Bay's third-round pick in the
2011 NHL entry draft (
Jordan Binnington). In 22 games with Tampa Bay, he scored one goal and one assist. At the end of the
2010–11 season, Brewer recorded a career-high nine goals and also amassed 81 penalty minutes, good for the second-highest total of his NHL career. On June 24, 2011, Brewer signed a four-year, $15.4 million contract extension with the Lightning. The
2011–12 season was Brewer's first full season with the Lightning and first under his four-year contract extension. Throughout the season, Brewer was relied upon heavily by the Lightning, leading the team in average ice time per game with 23:16. He finished the season having played in all 82 games, his first season without missing a single game since the
2006–07 season. He also set career highs with 176 shots blocked and 197 hits. With the
NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement set to expire on September 15, 2012, the
2012–13 NHL lockout resulted in the postponement of the
2012–13 season until January 2013. Brewer did not play in Europe during the lockout, instead supporting the
National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA) by participating in negotiations between the NHL and NHLPA. Upon the end of the lockout, Brewer started the season with a two-goal performance in the Lightning's season opening 6–3 victory against the
Washington Capitals. Brewer finished the lockout-shortened season with twelve points while playing in all 48 games. Having gone most of the season without a goal, Brewer scored his first of the season on March 20, 2014 in a 5–4 victory against the
Ottawa Senators. In the Lightning's final home game of the regular season, Brewer scored two goals to help secure a 3–2 victory against the
Columbus Blue Jackets in goaltender
Kristers Gudļevskis's NHL debut. Brewer finished the regular season with seventeen points in 77 games played.
Anaheim Ducks On November 28, 2014, while in the final year of his contract with the Lightning, Brewer was traded to the
Anaheim Ducks in exchange for a third-round pick in the
2015 NHL entry draft. At the time, Brewer had appeared in 17 games with the Lightning during the
2014–15 season and had four assists on the year. He finished his career with the Lightning having played in 246 games and scored ten goals and 46 assists. The next night, Brewer played in his first game with the Ducks, recording 15:07 in ice time in a 6–4 loss to the
San Jose Sharks. On December 3, 2014, after playing in only two games for the Ducks, the team announced that Brewer was expected to miss four-to-six weeks after breaking a bone in his foot from a blocked shot. Brewer returned to the Ducks lineup two months later on February 3, 2015 against the
Carolina Hurricanes and scored his first goal for Anaheim on February 8, 2015 against his former teammates in a 5–3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Toronto Maple Leafs On March 2, 2015, the 2015 NHL trade deadline, the Ducks traded Brewer and a fifth-round pick in the
2016 NHL entry draft to the
Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for defenceman
Korbinian Holzer, ending a brief nine game career with the Anaheim Ducks. Brewer's first game as a member of the Maple Leafs came on March 5, 2015 against the Tampa Bay Lighting. On March 21, 2015, Brewer became the 300th NHL player to play in
1,000 career games in a 5–3 loss to the
Ottawa Senators. Two days later, the Maple Leafs honored Brewer's achievement with a ceremony prior to their game against the
Minnesota Wild, at which they presented him with a silver stick, and
Rolex watch, and a $10,000 charitable donation in his name. After missing the playoffs with the Maple Leafs, Brewer finished the
2014–15 season with two goals and three assists in eighteen games with the Maple Leafs. Through his entire 2014–15 NHL season with the Lightning, Ducks, and Maple Leafs, Brewer scored three goals and eight assists in 44 games played, the fewest games played of his career since his injury-plagued
2008–09 season with the
St. Louis Blues. ==International play==