BLOG: Brown an opportunity and upside signing for Oilers

EDMONTON, AB - The signing of Connor Brown is the perfect marriage of opportunity and upside for the both the player and the Edmonton Oilers.

The team announced on Saturday that had they inked the 29-year-old right wing to a one-year deal with an annual average value of $4 million dollars. Brown has all the makings of a home run addition for the Oilers, filling a major organizational need for experience on the right side and coming in with ready-made chemistry with Connor McDavid.

"I talked to Connor McDavid two or three times since the end of the season about Connor Brown, and he's a player that hates to lose," Oilers General Manager and President of Hockey Operations Ken Holland said. "You're bringing a guy into that locker room that's got a lot of determination, a lot of passion, hates to lose, and is a driven athlete. I'm sure he's going to drive himself to get up and running as quickly as possible."

The 'up and running' Holland mentioned is where the opportunity and upside falls in the Oilers favour. Brown is coming off a torn ACL suffered in the fourth game of last season while playing with the Washington Capitals. The injury cost the two-time 20 goals scorer the remainder of the final year of his contract and has Brown entering free agency with an abundance of questions.

However, the injury provided a salary cap strained Oilers the ability to get creative while adding a top-six forward to their roster. Since Brown has played 400 NHL games and missed 100 days due to injury, he was eligible to take an incentive-laden deal in free agency. This allowed the Oilers to sign the forward to a low base salary deal for the season, with any of the bonus overages counting on next year's cap which is expected to rise.

The move maximizes the Oilers roster in a window where much of the squad is nestled in their prime and allows Brown to show what he can do post-injury while likely riding shotgun to either his old pal McDavid or Leon Draisaitl.

"At the end of the day, we're trying to win," Holland said. "Obviously, at 775K, we're adding a top-six forward. You're going to have to pay the price at some point in time. Either we'd have to have more money on the cap this year, or when the caps going up next year."

The upside for the Oilers is that they've added a forward that fits all kind of needs in the organization and comes with an excellent reputation across the league. Brown is two seasons removed from leading a very young Senators squad in goals with 21 in just 56 games -- including five shorthanded markers.

As mentioned, the Toronto native will get to reunite with his junior hockey teammate in McDavid, who helped him torch the Ontario Hockey League to the tune of 128 points (45G, 83A) in 68 game in 2013-14 while with the Eerie Otters. Patience will be key for Brown after coming off a devastating injury, but it should be fun to watch the two teammates and friends rediscover their chemistry at the pro level.

"I would think so," Holland said about the possibility of Brown playing on the Oilers top-two lines.

"I just think he's a good hockey player. He's got hockey sense, he could play 200ft, he can kill penalties, he's got a couple of 20-goal seasons. I know he's excited and I think he's going to be a great fit for our team."

Brown also believes the Oilers are a good fit for himself. He spoke to TSN on Saturday about the allure of playing with McDavid and Draisaitl, and how the Oilers recent playoff success swayed his decision to sign in Edmonton.

"It's huge," Brown said. "I want to win, and I know Connor and I've known him for a long time, and I know he wants to win bad, and it's kind of the environment I want to be in coming off an injury and trying to get things back on track."

The Oilers are keeping the early expectations low on Brown as he works his way back into the game. Holland said he believes that Training Camp Connor Brown will be a different player than mid-season Connor Brown. By the Oilers third game of next season, the forward will be one year removed from the ACL tear that cost him almost all of 2022-23 and could be another impact player in an already loaded Oilers top-six.

"You can't read the future," Holland said. "But all indications are that everything looks good and he's trending to be ready to rock and roll for Training Camp and have a good three weeks of Training Camp, play four or five pre-season games, and hopefully, he's going to have a real positive impact on our team."