Proposal: (EDM) Nail Yakupov for (TOR) Connor Brown

[SupremeTeam16]

you watched brown that much, but didnt even realize he only played 3 seasons and his "overage" season he was in the AHL leading all rookies in scoring.

2014:OHL scoring leader
2015:AHL rookie scoring leader
2016: 18g/20A/38pts in 49 games AHL, 6 pts in 7 NHL games

teams prospect pools are littered with former scoring champions, AHL all stars, young guys that have impressed early on in the NHL?
I call BS

My mistake I didn't realize he was a junior A player as a 17 year old, he had 1 monster season in the OHL playing with McDavid other then that he was pretty mediocre.

He's had some decent numbers in the AHL but like I said every team has ppg AHL players in their system. Anton Lander was a ppg AHL all star.

He put up some points in his first handful of NHL games, lots of guys come in and have hot starts only to fade into nothingness. Good on Brown for trending in the right direction but the chances of him becoming anything more then an AHL/NHL tweeter are pretty slim at this point.

 

[varano]

Errr I just noticed connor brown was almost PPG in his NHL stint last year but I stopped watching around that time. Does anyone remember How he did?

The fact that he was PPG during that stretch is amazing to me.

 

[Halla]

My mistake I didn't realize he was a junior A player as a 17 year old, he had 1 monster season in the OHL playing with McDavid other then that he was pretty mediocre.

He's had some decent numbers in the AHL but like I said every team has ppg AHL players in their system. Anton Lander was a ppg AHL all star.

He put up some points in his first handful of NHL games, lots of guys come in and have hot starts only to fade into nothingness. Good on Brown for trending in the right direction but the chances of him becoming anything more then an AHL/NHL tweeter are pretty slim at this point.

LOL based on what? he has performed at every level. the kid shutup all his critics who thought he only put up because of mcdavid, by leading ALL rookies in the AHL in scoring as a 20 year old.

the best comparison you could come up with is Lander with 25pts in 61 games at the same age? talk about reaching.

by the way the oilers top 94 born prospect in the AHL is Juljar Khaira who thus far has a whopping 37 pts in 99 games. Brown has 90 in 110....thought every team has AHL players lighting it up? or were you referring to 31 year old Matthew Ford as the oilers representative?

 

[Halla]

It's not just McDavid's line... it's with an offensive-minded center. He played well with Roy as well. Just stop playing him with the likes of Letestu and Lander at center. Hall didn't do too well playing with our 3rd line (most team's 4th line) center for a 5 game stretch either.

Yak has played worse than his draft position. Brown has played better than his draft position. Take draft position away as it is irrelevant in this debate.

Yak > Brown today - you can't ignore the fact that they were drafted in the same draft year - one has proven himself to be an NHL player, although still a bit of an unknown as to exactly where should fit in an NHL line-up.

Admittedly, next year could be a different story. I see both players as having an upside if used effectively.

so by that logic yak> matthews right?

Yak has been terrible thus far. a complete bust if you consider Galchenyuk, Rielly,Lindholm, Forsberg, Trouba etc went later and are all considered elite young talent.

Brown has gotten better and better eqach year qand if he makes the leafs, He will easily surpass the 20-30 points yak will get. the whole "proven" argument will go out the window

 

[varano]

so by that logic yak> matthews right?

Yak has been terrible thus far. a complete bust if you consider Galchenyuk, Rielly,Lindholm, Forsberg, Trouba etc went later and are all considered elite young talent.

Brown has gotten better and better eqach year qand if he makes the leafs, He will easily surpass the 20-30 points yak will get. the whole "proven" argument will go out the window

Honestly, if he doesn't make it this year...I have to assume Brown isnt going to be productive in the NHL...

 

[Halla]

Honestly, if he doesn't make it this year...I have to assume Brown isnt going to be productive in the NHL...

I'd go with 2016-2017. leafs have a pile of vets taking up roster spots that will be gone next year. I see a guy like Hyman making it over Brown,he is 2 years older and more suited for a bottom 6 role. they will probably let Connor light up the AHL again

 

[ViewsFromThe6ix]

Errr I just noticed connor brown was almost PPG in his NHL stint last year but I stopped watching around that time. Does anyone remember How he did?

The fact that he was PPG during that stretch is amazing to me.

He was very, very good. Best rookie that came up IMO. He looked like the real deal. Responsible defensively, relentless, good offensively.

 

[SprDaVE]

I'd rather see what we have in Brown and it looks pretty good.

 

[LaymanX]

It's kind of funny. Brown is like the anti-Yakupov

He's so lowkey that even the Leaf fanbase forgets he exists sometimes. His very name is super boring.

Brown.

Yet, he simply performs at all levels (as so many posters have pointed out).

Flashy/exciting vs boring/productive

 

[Randy Randerson]

Errr I just noticed connor brown was almost PPG in his NHL stint last year but I stopped watching around that time. Does anyone remember How he did?

The fact that he was PPG during that stretch is amazing to me.

He was very effective at creating chances, seemed to have a lot of chemistry with Kadri. If memory serves, I think he could easily have been over point-per-game through that stretch, lots of good chances that he was involved in didn't get to the back of the net. Now is definitely not the time to sell on Connor Brown unless you get something you really need in return, like a high ceiling RHD

 

[mashedpotato]

Leafs decline any offer for Yak.

I don't care if they put him on waivers - I expect this to happen eventually - I would expect the Leaf's to claim him; He's just not a good player / teammate.

If EDM wanted to get something for him, that window has closed.

 

[Draiskull]

It's kind of funny. Brown is like the anti-Yakupov

He's so lowkey that even the Leaf fanbase forgets he exists sometimes. His very name is super boring.

Brown.

Yet, he simply performs at all levels (as so many posters have pointed out).

Flashy/exciting vs boring/productive

He wasnt even PPG in AHL and has 1 NHL career goal... Hardly productive.

A 7 game NHL stint doesnt make him a better player than someone like Arcobello.

 

[kihei]

Oilers would prefer a different type of player than Brown IMO. Komarov for Yak? Oilers could add a pick/prospect.

Dream on.

 

[Draiskull]

Leafs decline any offer for Yak.

I don't care if they put him on waivers - I expect this to happen eventually - I would expect the Leaf's to claim him; He's just not a good player / teammate.

If EDM wanted to get something for him, that window has closed.

sorry but Brown isnt "something" EDM would want anyway.
Yak is going to get a good opportunity in Edmonton. Finally a top 6 role.

 

[Beukeboom Fan]

Yak has problems, but he's always performed as a low end 1st line/high end 2nd line player. Komarov for Yakupov, and Edmonton adds? Laughable.

I don't have a dog in the fight - but how can you catogorize Yak's production over the last couple of years as "high end 2nd line player"? Just from the eye test over limited viewings, for most of the timeframe he's been a fundamentally flawed player. IMO, unless his play improves significantly, he's not a scoring line player on a play-off team.

 

[BeLeafer11]

I think the value is quite fair but I'd personally rather keep Brown given that we've drafted and developed him in house and consider him part of our future core.

 

[Fogelhund]

Edmonton fans over value Yak, as a result of him being a former number one overall pick, and not wanting to give him away for free as a result. However, this is a player who has averaged 27 points a season the last three seasons, at a cap hit of $2.5 million, there just isn't a lot of value there. I can understand that EDM fans hope he finally shows why he was drafted #1, but very soon it will be best for the player to move him, to hope he salvages a career... as well as EDM, as getting something back, is better than nothing.


Leafs fans over value Brown, as he is one of those hometown long shots. He was a late round pick in the OHL, in the NHL, and never expected to be anything in either place. He still might not be a NHL player, but he has worked very hard, and succeeded everywhere he's gone. Small sample, but six points in seven NHL games. He's the local kid you want to succeed on your team, who has value to the fans, beyond his actual worth. There are probably kids above him on the depth chart, that most fans would part with before Brown.

I wouldn't mind taking a chance on Yakupov, but it isn't at the cost of Brown, though in all probability, the trade is pretty close to fair value. For example, I'd rather give up Kapanen for Yak, than Brown. Might need to send Greening too, to even out the cap hit, and be under the cap.

 

[Randy Randerson]

Edmonton fans over value Yak, as a result of him being a former number one overall pick, and not wanting to give him away for free as a result. However, this is a player who has averaged 27 points a season the last three seasons, at a cap hit of $2.5 million, there just isn't a lot of value there. I can understand that EDM fans hope he finally shows why he was drafted #1, but very soon it will be best for the player to move him, to hope he salvages a career... as well as EDM, as getting something back, is better than nothing.


Leafs fans over value Brown, as he is one of those hometown long shots. He was a late round pick in the OHL, in the NHL, and never expected to be anything in either place. He still might not be a NHL player, but he has worked very hard, and succeeded everywhere he's gone. Small sample, but six points in seven NHL games. He's the local kid you want to succeed on your team, who has value to the fans, beyond his actual worth. There are probably kids above him on the depth chart, that most fans would part with before Brown.

I wouldn't mind taking a chance on Yakupov, but it isn't at the cost of Brown, though in all probability, the trade is pretty close to fair value.

I wonder if you contrasted his probability of NHL success at draft time, and his probability of success now (strip away draft position, just look at guys who produced well in the CHL in years after their draft year + have similar production in the AHL), how much different would his likelihood of success be?

Without doing any looking in to it, I bet that his current probability of success is somewhere on par with a late 1st and mid 2nd round pick on draft day. Pure speculation, and that's probably still only like a 20-30% chance but I think he has become much less of a long shot as he has developed.

I agree with your take on Yakupov, I'd take a flyer on him to see if you could catch lightning in a bottle, but wouldn't give up young assets that we think will factor in

 

[Poignant Discussion*]

Yak has problems, but he's always performed as a low end 1st line/high end 2nd line player. Komarov for Yakupov, and Edmonton adds? Laughable.

Then keep Yakupov!!! He would be getting splinters in his butt with Babcock anyways

 

[nyrcup94]

Brown wasn't an overager in the OHL. His "overage" year he spent being the AHL's leading rookie scorer.

I am not a fan of either Toronto or Edmonton, but wanted to give my unbiased opinion here. If I am Toronto, I keep Brown. While Brown doesn't have the talent that Yak has, he has the DESIRE and the DRIVE to succeed in the NHL. Because of his smaller stature, he was never expected to achieve what he has in the OHL, AHL and in a small stint last year in the NHL. He as a VERY HIGH hockey IQ, which is not something you can easily teach. I would take a team of Connor Browns any day of the week because they are driven to succeed.

For all those that say that because Brown was a late round pick he is not nearly as valuable as Yak, I argue that you should look at his talent and not where he was picked. If he was picked in the late 1st or early 2nd instead of a late round pick (and based on his career path, he could have been drafted there), people would not be judging him on his talent, not his draft position.

From what I have seen of Yak (and I know it's not much), he will always struggle with the hype that surrounds a #1 pick. I think his absolute ceiling is a 2nd line winger. I just don't see a 1st line winger with his inconsistency. It's disappointing given how his career could have gone.

 

[Morgs]

My mistake I didn't realize he was a junior A player as a 17 year old, he had 1 monster season in the OHL playing with McDavid other then that he was pretty mediocre.

He's had some decent numbers in the AHL but like I said every team has ppg AHL players in their system. Anton Lander was a ppg AHL all star.

He put up some points in his first handful of NHL games, lots of guys come in and have hot starts only to fade into nothingness. Good on Brown for trending in the right direction but the chances of him becoming anything more then an AHL/NHL tweeter are pretty slim at this point.

He didn't play on the same line as McDavid. That's like saying Dylan Strome put up 129 points strictly because of McDavid.

 

[garyturner3]

Leafs decline any offer for Yak.

I don't care if they put him on waivers - I expect this to happen eventually - I would expect the Leaf's to claim him; He's just not a good player / teammate.

If EDM wanted to get something for him, that window has closed.

No they don't. I would gladly take a chance on Yak. He's been a complete mess thus far everyone will agree, but he's young enough that his potential is still worth something at this point. Wouldn't give up any more than a 2nd or B prospect for him though.

 

[snipes]

Leafs should keep Brown. They have nothing of interest for us in similar value and that's the last place Yak would succeed. He would need to go to a team like WSH or TBL for example where he has veteran support.

Give him a chance to reunite ConYak on a line. If we won't give him a chance with a skilled centre, then trade him for magic beans at that point. His value is at an all time low, this season is face the music time. He's been training hard from the looks of it this offseason while wearing Oilers gear, he'll be reporting day 1 for camp.

 

[Randy Randerson]

Leafs should keep Brown. They have nothing of interest for us in similar value and that's the last place Yak would succeed. He would need to go to a team like WSH or TBL for example where he has veteran support.

Give him a chance to reunite ConYak on a line. If we won't give him a chance with a skilled centre, then trade him for magic beans at that point. His value is at an all time low, this season is face the music time. He's been training hard from the looks of it this offseason while wearing Oilers gear, he'll be reporting day 1 for camp.

I hope that line doesn't work out....just picturing it being called the bad nicknames like the "Hennessy" line down the road

 

[snipes]

I hope that line doesn't work out....just picturing it being called the bad nicknames like the "Hennessy" line down the road

They're meant to be cheesy and silly.