BLOG: Oilers players excited to see Brown's impact

EDMONTON, AB - Those who have played with Connor Brown can't help but be excited for what the Oilers free agent addition can bring to the team come next season.

Connor McDavid is very familiar with Brown, having played two seasons with the forward in the OHL and succeeding Brown as captain of the Erie Otters in 2014-15. The duo was a menace for opposing teams in their brief time together, combining for a whopping 126 goals, 236 assists and 362 points over two season.

To expect similar results for the coming season would be a bit unrealistic - especially with Brown making his return from a knee injury that cost him all but four games of the 2022-23 season - but the ready-made chemistry and familiarity between the two forwards can only benefit the Oilers.

"I'm really excited about it. I think he's a great addition for a group," McDavid said while speaking at the Zach Hyman Celebrity Golf Tournament. "I think he fits in perfectly in the room, on the ice, all that type of stuff. I think it's a perfect addition."

At the National Hockey League level, Brown and Zach Hyman were also teammates for four seasons while with the Toronto Maple Leafs. The duo brought a bundle of energy and tenacity to the Leafs and followed a formula for success that Hyman is excited to replicate in Edmonton.

"I'm excited for Brownie, obviously. We played together in Toronto and we played well together and he's just such an elite worker," Hyman said. "We're kind of similar in that regard. We were always kind of compared to each other when were in Toronto as these two worker bees and great to have him in Edmonton and get him back there and it's great. We got a bunch of former Leafs obviously, so it's great to add him into the mix."

For those who haven't been teammates with Brown yet, his reputation precedes itself. The 6-foot forward has track record of success with a couple 20-goal seasons under his belt, including a career-best 21 scored in just 56 games with the Ottawa Senators in 2020-21. It's a total that could easily be surpassed with the right winger likely to see an abundance of time saddled next to either McDavid or Leon Draisaitl, but at the same time the team is trying to temper expectations with Brown not having played in an NHL game since Oct. 17, 2022.

"I think he's going to bring a lot. Obviously, he had a tough year last year so you got to give him a little bit of time to find his way and find his way with the group, but he's done nothing but impress everyone over his career," Draisaitl said. "I'm very excited to have him, very excited to see what he's all about and what he can bring to our team."

Brown appears to be the ideal fit for the Oilers at the right time. The Blue & Orange were in need of added depth on the right side with Kailer Yamamoto's offseason trade and the Jesse Puljujarvi being dealt during the season last year. The Toronto native has almost 450 games of NHL experience to plug into the Oilers lineup, but Brown's competitive streak may be the biggest addition to the squad.

"He's just so smart. Just a really smart player and competitive," McDavid said reminiscing about their time in the OHL together. "I think that was the main thing I remember being a 15-year-old kid was [Brown] was trying to develop his game to play for the Leafs, and he was just so competitive every single night."

"I remember some nights on the bus, we weren't a very good team, so there was a lot of long bus rides, but the next few years were great and I just love being his teammate and I'm looking forward to it."