Last Year
4 games, 0 points, -3. The Oilers signed who to play in their top 6 next to Connor McDavid??
Well let’s not get to riled up yet, this could turn out to be one of the Oilers most astute moves of the summer, or it could be a move that didn’t really due anything to improve the club. Only time will tell.
Why did the Oiler’s sign Connor Brown this offseason if he only played 4 games last season? Well Brown missed basically the entire season last year after tearing his ACL in his right knee in the 4th game of the season against the Vancouver Canucks while he played for the Washington Capitals but has been an effective scoring winger over the course of his previous 6 seasons.
Can we glean anything from his 4 games? not a whole lot. Though he did average close to 18:30 time on ice (TOI) through the Capitals first 3 games before being injured in the 4th game. Last year for reference the closest comparable Oilers forward in TOI was Evander Kane who averaged 18:42 per game, Kailer Yamamoto was next at 16:35 average TOI. The only forwards who averaged more TOI were McDavid, Draisatil, Hyman, RNH, and Kane. That would slot Brown in at 6th. Based on that we can see that before his injury the Capitals were also playing him in a top 6 role after trading a 2nd round pick for him from Ottawa. Other than that there is not a lot we can glean from last season though.
So maybe let’s look at his career averages to see what kind of player the Oilers have acquired in Connor Brown. Brown’s first 3 full season’s in the NHL he averaged 14-17-31 for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Then Brown moved to Ottawa for 3 seasons (his most recent 3 seasons) where he averaged 16-23-39. For reference Kailer Yamamoto (the man he is replacing) over the last 3 full seasons for the Oilers averaged 13-16-29. If Brown has fully recovered from his ACL injury and can return to the level of production he’s had over the last few seasons with the Senators, it would be a good upgrade in the top 6 compared to Yamamoto.
Brown is not a huge player, coming in at 6’0, 181lbs, though it’s still much bigger than Kailer Yamamoto 5’8, 153lbs. It was the bane of many Oilers fans existence watching Yam’s constantly being pushed over/off the puck during puck battles in the offensive and defensive zones. His tenacity was as intense as anyone’s and his willingness to go the the corners and forecheck like crazy was and is definitely appreciated by Oilers fans but Yamamoto far too often couldn’t hold his own in the puck battles. Brown gives the Oiler’s a bit bigger option in the top 6 who can battle hard in the corner for pucks to feed back to McDavid, or Draisaitl to help make the magic happen more often.
The main reason why Brown was an intriguing option this year for the Oilers is because of a little salary cap wizardry that could be performed due to him missing an entire year because of injury. In the NHL’s collective bargaining agreement there is a clause that basically says “if a player has played over 400 games in the NHL, and has been injured (hasn’t played a game) in 100 days, then you can sign them to a league minimum contract and add bonuses that would create the rest of their salary”. Brown qualified for this, and the nifty part is, bonus money doesn’t count against the salary cap this season if it puts the Oilers over the salary cap. So on the books for this year, for a cash strapped Oilers team, they were able to add Brown, a legitimate top 6/ middle 6 winger to the team for the league minimum salary. If he hits all his bonuses the Oilers will owe him more and at the end of the season whatever cap room the Oilers have left will subtract that much owing from the bonus. Whatever is left over though will be the Oilers problem for next season, where it will carry over and officially count. Possibly putting the Oilers in a spot of bother next year, but that’s a problem for another day.
This Year
What can we expect from Connor Brown this year? He has averaged 16-23-39 over his last 3 full seasons in the NHL in Ottawa on a team that had it’s fair share of struggles, finishing closer to the bottom of the league then in a playoff spot. He was counted on to be a leader on that team and a point producer. The quality of line mates Brown has acquired here in Edmonton are miles better than he had in Ottawa. Brown Averaged 2:04 TOI on the PP in his last season in Ottawa, on the 2nd unit power play or filling in on the top unit. He was their 6th highest forward in that regard. I believe his power play TOI will actually decrease this season because the Oilers first unit usually plays almost the whole two minutes every power play, so even if he is on the 2nd unit he won’t be getting much time.
Luckily for Brown though, his skill set comes more at 5 on 5 and Short Handed. He will be an excellent addition to the Oilers PK unit, hopefully providing a boost to it, as it was a glaring need for the Oilers to fill through most of last season. He should bring a little stability there. He will also be able to just keep producing points 5 on 5 for the Oilers like he did for the Sens. It may take Brown a little time to readjust to the pace after missing a year, hopefully pre season can knock off some of that rust, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a bit of a slow start from Brown early on in October before picking up the pace. However, with increased quality of line mates, I think Brown is poised to have the best year of his career, which will be awesome for the Oilers and Oilers fans as they try to drive to 1st place in the division and conference and win a Stanley Cup. It will likely though ,price Brown out of Edmonton for the following year, he may be a one and done in Edmonton unless other major moves take place around the deadline and or the summer.
Projection
Brown sets career high in points scoring 19-27-46 in 82 GP.
Next Up
Warren Foegele
Rig City Sports 
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