Four reasons why the Oilers should bring back Connor Brown next season

Finally, in his 55th game of the season, in a blowout, Brown scored his first goal since March 2022. For a player lacking luck all season, this goal was rather lucky, as it just kind of bounced off him and past the netminder. Interestingly, it was against his former team, the Washington Capitals, whom he played four games with before his ACL injury in 2022-23.

However, since coming off the schneid, Brown has three goals and four points in the last six games, with a shooting percentage at the very sustainable 42.9% and 71:15 minutes on ice. His second goal was probably the easiest goal he’ll score in his life (that he probably doesn’t score to begin the season), as Sam Carrick found him with a beautiful pass with less than 10 seconds left in the game, once again, in a blowout.

It’s the third goal, though, that is a very encouraging sign. At times this season, I was screaming “SHOOT” when Brown had the puck. This time, though, Brown uncorked a laser of a wrister that beat Connor Hellebuyck, one of the best netminders in the game. Not only that, but this was an important goal for the Oilers, as they went up 2-1 against a contender in the Winnipeg Jets.

He’s heating up, and everyone loves it.

Brown is very likeable

There’s a line between fair criticism for a multi-millionaire hockey player and just going too far. Thankfully, Oiler fans never went too far in their criticism of Brown, at least that I saw. Sure, it was frustrating he passed up a chance to shoot on a two-on-one. Sure, it was frustrating that he was brought in as a second-line winger and wasn’t scoring for the first 54 games. And yes, it’s frustrating for Oiler fans that he’ll cost $3.225 million towards the cap next season.

But when Brown scored his first goal of the season, you can tell how much it meant to the fans. The snakebitten Brown received a long-standing ovation after scoring his first goal, and even hats were thrown on the ice. To me, that’s a sign of appreciation usually reserved for a hat trick (and Zach Hyman’s 50th goal, there was a lone hat on the ice).

The reaction from the Oilers’ bench that night reminds me of a Game 7 celebration. Everyone on that bench loves Brown and knows how much that means for him. Even Brown himself looked relieved, happy, and on the verge of tears. That goal, despite it being in a blowout, was one of the best moments this season and just shows how well-liked Brown is in Oil Country.

The Connor Brown Redemption Tour™

Will there be better penaltykillers available in this upcoming free agency? Probably. Will there be more clinical scorers available to fill the second-line winger gap? Absolutely. Will they be cheap? Absolutely not.

Regardless of how you feel about Brown, his lack of goal-scoring prior to his last six games, as well as his bonus, the Oilers are going to pay Brown $3.225 million in 2024-25, no matter what they do. So let me pose a question: Would you rather pay Brown over $3 million to play elsewhere, or pay him a league minimum deal to play for the Oilers in the Connor Brown Redemption Tour™?

Prior to this season, Brown wasn’t just some fourth-liner. From 2016-17 until 2021-22, Brown scored 89 goals and 210 points in 437 games, with all but 15 of those goals coming at even strength His best point production season came in 2019-20, when he scored 16 goals and 43 points in 71 games. The next year, he scored a career-high 21 goals and 35 points in just 56 games.

Despite the obvious concerns of an ACL injury, there’s a track record there, and these last six games have shown us that maybe, just maybe, Brown could still produce upwards of 30 points a season as he did prior to joining Edmonton.

Why not just call it an even four million, of which only $775,000 will be added to next season’s cap, and let him go off?