The Edmonton Oilers had a surprisingly bad start to their 2023-24 campaign but have since turned it around since choosing to fire former head coach Jay Woodcroft and former assistant coach Dave Manson. Heading into the new season, the Oilers didn’t make many moves as far as trades or free-agent signings, but their biggest move was bringing in forward Connor Brown on a really interesting contract. While his cap hit is only $775,000 this season, he earned a $3.25 million bonus if he played at least ten games this season, which he has done, but that bonus money won’t count against the cap until next season.
Brown had a major knee injury he was dealing with last season and only ended up playing four games with the Washington Capitals, who chose not to re-sign him. He was a former teammate of Oilers’ captain Connor McDavid when they played together in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) with the Erie Otters during their time playing junior hockey. There were high hopes for Brown, who was expected to get plenty of top-six forward ice time alongside McDavid, but he has been the opposite of what the team expected when they signed him.
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While his defensive game hasn’t been terrible, and he’s been playing a decent physical game, his offensive production has been nothing short of awful. In this edition of midseason report cards for Brown, we give a grade to his offensive and defensive abilities up until this point, as well as his future as an Oiler and how much of an impact he’ll likely have with the team to finish out the season.
Offensive Production: D-
As previously mentioned, there were some high expectations for Brown heading into the new season alongside his former teammate and current all-star McDavid, but he hasn’t been anything close to what the Oilers needed. While he dealt with an injury earlier in the season that hasn’t let him play every game, he was healthy scratched against the New Jersey Devils in what seemed to be a major message sent in hopes of altering his play. In the 24 games, he has played this season, Brown only has one assist.
For a player expected to produce at least 30-35 points with the Oilers this season, he has been severely underwhelming. He has been skating well and seems to be healthy following his major knee injury last season, but he hasn’t been able to find any luck with the puck on his stick, nor has he been able to produce offensively whatsoever. He did have one goal disallowed, but he hasn’t scored his actual first goal in an Oilers jersey yet.
The Oilers are fortunate he only has a one-year deal, but the bonus that counts against their salary cap next season is going to hurt them severely. They will be hoping he can turn his offensive game around in a big way in the second half of the season.
Defensive Play: C+
I mentioned that Brown’s defensive play hasn’t been terrible, and it hasn’t, but it also hasn’t been the best. Being a healthy scratch sends the message that his overall game wasn’t great, including his defensive zone, so it’s something he’ll need to improve on if he wants to remain in the lineup for the remainder of the season and not find himself coming in and out every game.
Hopefully, Brown can continue to play sound defensively and improve his overall game to become a more useful and reliable player in the second half of the season.
Brown’s Season After the Holidays With the Oilers
If Brown didn’t have the bonus on his contract that hits the books next season, the Oilers likely would’ve tried to trade him and get rid of his contract already. However, they’re in a situation where if they were to dump his contract, it only clears up $775,000 and doesn’t change the fact they still have to pay him next season. So they’ll likely be hanging onto Brown and hoping he can turn it around instead of trading him and making it look like they made a massive mistake.
Unfortunately, Brown hasn’t panned out with the Oilers. I had high hopes for him entering the season and even predicted he could be a 40-point player alongside McDavid. While that isn’t impossible to reach with how dangerous the Oilers are as a team offensively, it seems unlikely. Hopefully, he can provide something more to the Oilers than he has up until this point and can prove he is worth his contract come the postseason.