He began the season in a slump, with only two goals and four points through his first 19 games, as well as a −10 rating, and Arniel frequently relegated Brassard to a healthy scratch by early December. On December 7, 2011, after Brassard's seventh healthy scratch of the season, his agent Allan Walsh wrote on Twitter accused Arniel of "singl[ing] out" Brasard "to be the fall guy in case things don't go well", describing the coach as having "a history of burying players and using them as scapegoats to mask his own lack of success on the ice".
The player started poorly, scoring only two goals and four points in his first 19 games, while also having a negative rating. Coach Arniel frequently benched him by early December. On December 7, 2011, after Brassard's seventh bench-time of the season, his agent accused Arniel of unfairly targeting Brassard as a scapegoat for poor team performance.