The Edmonton Oilers have made a splash in the free-agent market by signing forward Connor Brown to a a one-year deal worth $775,000. The deal comes with $3.25 million in potential bonuses. The 29-year-old was limited to just four games last season with the Washington Capitals after undergoing surgery to reconstruct a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his right knee. The Capitals had acquired Brown from the Ottawa Senators in exchange for a 2024 second-round pick last July. Unfortunately, the Capitals’ hopes for Brown to bolster their offensive depth were cut short due to the knee injury. The loss of Brown will sting for the club, which loses a high-end pick for just four games played from the forward.
Brown, a sixth-round, 156th-overall draft selection by the Toronto Maple Leafs at the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, has played in 448 games, scoring 90 goals and 126 assists for 216 points over his eight-year NHL career. He spent his first four seasons with the Maple Leafs, becoming a valuable depth scorer for the club. In 253 games with the club, he scored 43 goals and 56 points for 99 assists. He also gained some playoff experience with Toronto, appearing in 20 postseason games while scoring one goal and four assists.
On July 1, 2019, Brown was traded along with Nikita Zaitsev to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for Cody Ceci, Ben Harpur, forward prospect Aaron Luchuk and a third-round selection in the 2020 NHL Draft. Brown excelled in his first season with Ottawa, posting 16 goals and 27 assists for a career-high 43 points. Following his first season with the Senators, Brown signed a three-year contract worth $10.8 million ($3.6 average annual value). Brown began to play in all facets of the game for the Senators, including getting time on the power-play and penalty-killing units.
During the shortened 2020-21 season, Brown began to demonstrate his offensive potential by scoring a career-high 21 goals in just 56 games. Through three seasons with the Senators, the right-wing played 191 games scoring 47 goals and 70 assists for 117 points. He also has shown leadership qualities throughout his career, acting as the captain of the Erie Otters in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) and then as an alternate captain with a young Senators group.
Brown’s Fit With the Oilers
While making an effort to come back from a significant knee injury will be a daunting task for Brown, there is no question that he will bring depth-scoring qualities to the Oilers. He will once again be relied upon for his forechecking abilities and will play a significant role on the penalty kill. A true middle-six forward, Brown will get a chance to show that last season’s knee injury will not hinder his performance going forward. Expect Brown to also get time on the second power-play unit.
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After playing his junior hockey with Connor McDavid and the Otters, the two have demonstrated quality chemistry playing together before. Brown scored 45 goals and 83 assists for 128 points while serving as the team captain for the Otters during the 2013-14 season. There is always a chance for him to play alongside the best player on the planet, and that could do wonders for Brown’s offensive output over the season.