Brunette debuted in the Ontario Hockey League playing for the Owen Sound Platers for three seasons between 1990 and 1993 and scored 233 points in 195 games, winning the Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy, the scoring title, in 1993. He was drafted by the Washington Capitals in the seventh round, 174th overall, in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft.

 

After being drafted, he played for the Hampton Roads Admirals in the ECHL, before moving to the American Hockey League, where he played for two more teams that season: Providence Bruins and Portland Pirates. Brunette stayed with the Pirates until 1998, but was called up by the Capitals for the first time in the 1995-96 NHL season and played 11 games. He played 23 and 28 games in the following NHL seasons and left the AHL definitively when he was selected in the 1998 NHL Expansion Draft by new franchise Nashville Predators.

 

Brunette scored the Predators first goal in a 3-2 win versus the Carolina Hurricanes. After playing the 1998-99 season for the Predators, he moved to the newly created Atlanta Thrashers and played two seasons there, moving to the Minnesota Wild in the 2001-02 NHL season. He scored the final goal on Hall of Fame goaltender Patrick Roy of the Colorado Avalanche in overtime of game 7 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals on April 22, 2003. Brunette stayed with the Wild until 2004 and signed as a free agent for the Colorado Avalanche after the 2004-05 lockout. He scored the series-clinching goal for the Colorado Avalanche on April 30, 2006, against the Dallas Stars in game 5 of the 2006 Western Conference Quarterfinals. 2006-07 was his best individual season: he averaged over a point per game for his first time in the NHL, playing with Joe Sakic.

 

Andrew Brunette scored his 500th NHL career point on October 26, 2007, against the Calgary Flames.