Confirmed with Link: Oilers sign Connor Brown to 1-year incentive laden deal ($775K caphit, potentially $3.25M in bonuses)

[Drivesaitl]

I prefer r/hockey now. I appreciate other people doing the work of down voting stupid posts. That way I don't have to read them. This signing has been universally praised by the media and on reddit. You come here and people think the sky is falling. Like someone else mentioned though, it's really just a handful of posters that can't seem to grasp why this signing is structured the way it is.

The signing is praised as the second coming of Christ, by the Eastern dominated Canadian media because Brown played longterm in Toronto and Ottawa. Thats it. I fully expect all the media to sing praises on that basis as every leaf alumni alone is great in some way. (sarcasm)

if people don't spot that bias in Canadian media including sporting media I don't know what they're looking at.

If this was a player that had played in WC all along it wouldn't be trumped as much as it is.

Really have to ask ourselves what Connor Brown would get in the open market? Most players covet term in their contract. This guy is coming here on a one year deal on an unsusual bonus structured contract. His last contract was through arbritration at a 3year 3.6M AAV contract with these last two years being at 4M. So essentially he's getting the same money but with no term.

I know he got injured and some may find it a risk but apparently he is training normally this summer. Regardless of the injury, I think he could have got at least a couple of years of term and the same money with another team. No ?

Even TSN was raving about the player and the contract so I think Holland made a good move here considering how tight the cap is.

From the Edmonton Sun:
"
Brown, who played junior hockey with McDavid and was teammates with Hyman in Toronto, is a two-time 20-goal scorer who averaged 39 points a season over his last three full seasons.
Brown also has the versatility to move up and down the right side. He has skill enough to be a complementary player in the top six but also plays with enough grit and tenacity to be effective further down the lineup if necessary. He isn’t big at six-foot and 181 pounds, but he plays with some bite, which is also exactly what the Oilers need.
He’s also an established penalty killer with eight career shorthanded goals.
The question remains, however, about the state of his game in the wake of an ACL tear and subsequent surgery just four games into last season. By all accounts the knee is fine and Brown has been training like normal this summer."

Does anybody even care that the Connors played together? Getting tired of hearing it already. This is pro hockey. highest rung in the world. Just becasue McD played with thi guy in junior and liked him maybe doesn't mean he should be singing his praises too and recruiting him. McD hasn't always been the best judge of talent or what will help here. Neither has Drai for that matter. Both of these guys would be terrible GM's.

 

[Drivesaitl]

I

lol True that

I’m basically here because Twitter is down or has turned to shit

Miss the posters that were willing to engage in rational discussions but they’re overshadowed by a vocal minority

Poster likes "rational discussion" and was posting extensively on twitter. I can't stop laughing. Twitter was ALWAYS a shit tunnel. if there was any rational discussion there it would be framed in a museum for posterity.

 

[Leonardlizard]

What I love about Connor Brown based on his highlight video from 20-21..seems a lot of his goals are greasy and he has a lightning quick response to open pucks in the offensive zone. Something I feel like the team has lacked...

 

[AddyTheWrath]

Poster likes "rational discussion" and was posting extensively on twitter. I can't stop laughing. Twitter was ALWAYS a shit tunnel. if there was any rational discussion there it would be framed in a museum for posterity.

When did I say I posted on Twitter?

I’m here to get the tweets from reporters because I can’t see them on Twitter myself.

Internet is full of trolls. No point expecting rational discussion anywhere

 

[mouser]

The punchline is late arriving. Earlier in the day people were shouting from rooftops that the Oilers don't have to pay dick if Connor Brown doesn't perform or doesn't play much. That has been rendered fiction.

Now we know Brown just has to play 10 games and all the loaded bonuses hit. Whether this season or next is irrelevant. Its still eating our cap.

I mean why even put in the clause if its only 10 games? Thats a serious question. Its as if just mentioning theres a game played clause is somehow doing proactive homework. Even though its smoke and mirrors nothing. This contract is written to pretty much guarantee Brown gets his money in any condition, and that it costs us cap.

It's done that way so Edmonton has the option of carrying over the $3.225m in performance bonuses Brown is going to earn in 2023-24 as dead cap space in 2024-25.

Similar to what Boston did with Bergeron last season.

 

[Anarchism]

When did I say I posted on Twitter?

I’m here to get the tweets from reporters because I can’t see them on Twitter myself.

Internet is full of trolls. No point expecting rational discussion anywhere

One man's rational is another's poop a lot of the time.
You should have seen the abuse i took when i suggested we trade JP two and half years ago.

 

[Hemsky4pm2]

I do not have massive offensive expectations for Brown. If he can come in and get 20G-20A-40P and be an effective PKer, that will be great. It will also be in line with his career norms. I am more interested in what he can add come playoff time in terms of being an upgrade on Yamamoto. He only has 5 points in 20 playoff games, so again, pretty meh. He will not be on the first unit PP, so his numbers will not be astonishing. The Oilers really need some break outs this year from Holloway, Lavoie and/or Broberg. They will need more from Foegele and McLeod too.

 

[Defsta]

I do not have massive offensive expectations for Brown. If he can come in and get 20G-20A-40P and be an effective PKer, that will be great. It will also be in line with his career norms. I am more interested in what he can add come playoff time in terms of being an upgrade on Yamamoto. He only has 5 points in 20 playoff games, so again, pretty meh. He will not be on the first unit PP, so his numbers will not be astonishing. The Oilers really need some break outs this year from Holloway, Lavoie and/or Broberg. They will need more from Foegele and McLeod too.

I would be fine with that production. What I really want from Brown is his defensive aspect and Hyman kind of 200-foot game. He's good at penalty kill and can break up plays and that's something we need as he allows our more attack minded players do where they are best at.

Kane - McDavid - Hyman
Nuge -Draisaitl - Brown

I'm happy with that top-6 and it's now just if we get that good center who can win faceoffs to our bottom six. Toews would be awesome to our 3rd line if he comes for 1 mil.

Holloway - Toews - Foegele
Janmark - McLeod - Ryan

 

[Fourier]

I do not have massive offensive expectations for Brown. If he can come in and get 20G-20A-40P and be an effective PKer, that will be great. It will also be in line with his career norms. I am more interested in what he can add come playoff time in terms of being an upgrade on Yamamoto. He only has 5 points in 20 playoff games, so again, pretty meh. He will not be on the first unit PP, so his numbers will not be astonishing. The Oilers really need some break outs this year from Holloway, Lavoie and/or Broberg. They will need more from Foegele and McLeod too.

His three playoff years were his first three as a full time NHLer. Most of this was spent playing with Komorov and a young Nazem Kadri on the Leaf's shutdown line. Playing with Matthews at ES he had an individual scoring rate of 4.3pts/60. It's a small sample size of course but it is also fairly consistent with what we saw in his last year in TO where he did produce when given a chance to play with Matthews in the regular season and where he played very well in Ottawa with Brady Tkachuk. The Leafs as a team didn't score much in those playoff years by the way. He was aslo fairly effective on the pp for the Leafs when he did play. If Hyman is hurt he could slot into that spot on the Oilers pp quite nicely.

His game is a lot more than points though. He has always been good defensively and will probably be one of the mainstays on the pk.

People need to put this signing in perspective. He's not a superstar, but he's also not being paid like one despite the controversy over the structure of his contract, He's more of a Swiss army knife.

 

[Fourier]

The signing is praised as the second coming of Christ, by the Eastern dominated Canadian media because Brown played longterm in Toronto and Ottawa. Thats it. I fully expect all the media to sing praises on that basis as every leaf alumni alone is great in some way. (sarcasm)

if people don't spot that bias in Canadian media including sporting media I don't know what they're looking at.

If this was a player that had played in WC all along it wouldn't be trumped as much as it is.


Does anybody even care that the Connors played together? Getting tired of hearing it already. This is pro hockey. highest rung in the world. Just becasue McD played with thi guy in junior and liked him maybe doesn't mean he should be singing his praises too and recruiting him. McD hasn't always been the best judge of talent or what will help here. Neither has Drai for that matter. Both of these guys would be terrible GM's.

Except in this case the comments you are hearing out of the Eastern media are accurate. What they are describing is pretty much the player as I have seen and I've seen a fair bit of him going back to his junior days in Erie. He scored 20 goals as a rookie playing half the season on a shutdown line with KAdri and Komrov. Then when he had a chance to play with Matthews he produced there as well.

You've been critical of Yamamoto because you said he leeched his points from better players. If he is healthy Brown is a much better all round player. Why not give him a chance to prove it rather than already deciding you know what he is.

 

[Trafalgar Sadge Law]

This contract went from eyebrow raising to indefensible. 10 games for a 3.25 million dollar bonus? Are you f***ing kidding me? Not even 10 games of McDavid is worth 3.25 million. And no stop looking at it as 775k contract. It's not. It's a 4 million dollar contract for as low as 10 games with 3.25 million in dead cap built in, which is worse than just actually having a 4 million dollar contract. Brown and his agent bent Holland over Nurse+Hughes style, it is what it is. Hopefully he has a 50 point season to at least earn the contract I guess.

 

[PaPaDee]

Very short sighted deal. If you’re signing this type of deal, it better put the team over the top and I don’t see it. Keep kicking that salary cap issue to future years. Next year will suck with over $5M in dead cap space, plus the inevitable buyout(s) coming to make more room.

 

[Whyme]

Without saying if he'll be worth 4 million or not I don't understand it when many over here say the extra 3.25 won't matter next year. Why wouldn't it matter? Is the window closed after this season? In any case every million will be needed and useful, it's not like the team will be so good it couldn't be better with extra millions.

 

[McTonyBrar]

Brown is a useful player, but adding a dead 3.5 million to next year’s cap as well as bridging Bouchard are both terrible ideas. Holland can’t get out of his own way.

There’s no winning with you people is there? If the 3.5 gets added to this year = WAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH

if it gets added to next year when the cap rise a ton = WAAAAAAHHHHHH


you armchair GMs should just become GMs since you guys think you are amazing

 

[brentashton]

There’s no winning with you people is there? If the 3.5 gets added to this year = WAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH

if it gets added to next year when the cap rise a ton = WAAAAAAHHHHHH


you armchair GMs should just become GMs since you guys think you are amazing

Plus, if there wasn’t a sexy FA signing yesterday, the whining asking if “Ken is still taking his nap“ would have been equally unbearable. Unfortunately, with the team in a win now window that gets tighter each year, the fan base nerves are close to the surface. Cant be unexpected.

 

[dem]

I’m no capologist.. and I haven’t really studied our situation.

But I think I would have tried to even out the cap hit. A dead 3.25 next year is a lot. That’s more than Foegele! Not to mention the 1.9 on Neal

5 million of dead cap space next year.

 

[PaPaDee]

I’m no capologist.. and I haven’t really studied our situation.

But I think I would have tried to even out the cap hit. A dead 3.25 next year is a lot. That’s more than Foegele!

Not to mention the 1.9 on Neal
5 million of dead cap space next year.

Yeah, next offseason will be really bad. No room to add at all and we’ll have to rely on internal growth to get better. Holloway and Broberg will require new contracts. The only saving grace, is that Foegele’s contract comes off the books.

 

[Captain Controversy]

Seems steep for Connor brown at this time. If he can put up 50 + points while playing well defensively, it will be worth it.

 

[Drivesaitl]

When did I say I posted on Twitter?

I’m here to get the tweets from reporters because I can’t see them on Twitter myself.

Internet is full of trolls. No point expecting rational discussion anywhere

Indeed. We agree on this. If I can add fandom itself, whereby we identify closely with things that are external to us, and love them, is arguably irrational.

Being a fan of the Oilers or any Canadian club of the NHL could be considered irrational too but thats a different convo.

In anycase coming to a place and then complaining about how its so bad you keep leaving the place could also be considered irrational. But to announce it seems just like poor form. jmo

Myself, when I grieve anything, (and its maybe stupid for me to grieve something like a hockey player leaving a club) i give fully into any feelings that stem from it and anger, questioning etc are stages. Rather than repress any of these feelings I tend to let them fly further to not holding them in. So yeah, a lot of my feels about the moves and this thread is due to Kostin. Albeit irrational to do that. It is a form of processing grief of the player loss, and we all do that different ways. The alternate form is to flip on the player we loved and go sour grapes mode. We all have different mechanisms, and thats OK.

cheers and welcome back. Its not so bad

 

[AddyTheWrath]

Indeed. We agree on this. If I can add fandom itself, whereby we identify closely with things that are external to us, and love them, is arguably irrational.

Being a fan of the Oilers or any Canadian club of the NHL could be considered irrational too but thats a different combo.

In anycase coming to a place and then complaining about how its so bad you keep leaving the place could also be considered irrational. But to announce it seems just like poor form. jmo

I don’t mind dissenting opinions / debate. It would be boring if we all thought the same thing.

But to keep repeating the same thing over and over hammering in your opinion and constantly criticizing every move is what I take exception with.

 

[Drivesaitl]

I don’t mind dissenting opinions / debate. It would be boring if we all thought the same thing.

But to keep repeating the same thing over and over hammering in your opinion and constantly criticizing every move is what I take exception with.

Posted to me but not sure if directed at me. For one I expanded on the previous post and explained why I do some of what I do. Usually temporally. In reaction.

Next I'm not negative about every move. To say that people are is possible generalization distortion in anycase. Do I bleat on when I'm impacted? Yeah I do. But to me thats just honest to let those feels out and even acknowledge the misgivings I feel are at least partly about a feeling of loss. (in this case Kostin) Illogical as that is. Also I'm obsessive in nature, which nearly anybody could spot.

That said if the player incoming was one that I had particularly liked I wouldn't be doing this. I do think that Connor Brown impact here is being drastically overstated. he might not be better here than Foegele. We'll see.

 

[AddyTheWrath]

Posted to me but not sure if directed at me. For one I expanded on the previous post and explained why I do some of what I do. Usually temporally. In reaction.

Next I'm not negative about every move. To say that people are is possible generalization distortion in anycase. Do I bleat on when I'm impacted? Yeah I do. But to me thats just honest to let those feels out and even acknowledge the misgivings I feel are at least partly about Kostin. Illogical as that is. That said if the player incoming was one that I had particularly liked I wouldn't be doing this. I do think that Connor Brown impact here is being drastically overstated. he might not be better here than Foegele. We'll see.

Not directed at you

 

[McDoused]

And in the real world where Campbell continues to be a mental midget and Ceci continues to be the 4/5 d-man he's always been?

First off? why is campbell and Ceci failing any more real than them bouncing back? This is the very definition of recency bias.

Second, the Oilers are two "holes" away from being the Stanley cup favourite. As I pointed out few teams are perfect so I dont know why you expect the Oilers to be. Look round the league, even the best teams have weaknesses. Is Aidin Hill and Freddy Andersen really that much better than Skinner or Campbell? Not really.

Thirdly, if guys dont pan out you pivot. There is still an entire season of hockey and a trade deadline where you can go out and get guys. The Oilers still have picks and prospects that they can move out later if necessary. I will never understand why negative posters like yourself expect a stanley cup team to be built and ready to go for day 1 of training camp.

 

[McDoused]

The signing is praised as the second coming of Christ, by the Eastern dominated Canadian media because Brown played longterm in Toronto and Ottawa. Thats it. I fully expect all the media to sing praises on that basis as every leaf alumni alone is great in some way. (sarcasm)

if people don't spot that bias in Canadian media including sporting media I don't know what they're looking at.

If this was a player that had played in WC all along it wouldn't be trumped as much as it is.


Does anybody even care that the Connors played together? Getting tired of hearing it already. This is pro hockey. highest rung in the world. Just becasue McD played with thi guy in junior and liked him maybe doesn't mean he should be singing his praises too and recruiting him. McD hasn't always been the best judge of talent or what will help here. Neither has Drai for that matter. Both of these guys would be terrible GM's.

So we should ignore the media and fans who have actually watched him play day in and day out for years and take your opinion instead?

Theirs a big difference with people giving Holland praise for being creative and getting a top 6 player for league minimum this year and calling it the second coming of christ.

Truth is lots of teams were after brown and would have given him a similar contract because of his unique situation. You have to pay for him somehow. I didnt see you complaining about Boston doing this very same thing.

 

[SwedishFire]

Holland had an easy free agents day. Target one forward, and get him.

But I would like to say he need a 3RW as well, if he doesnt already pencil in Holloway as one, and Lavoie as 4RW???

Draisaitl McDavid Hyman
Kane Nuge Brown
Holloway McLeod Fogele
Janmark Ryan Lavoie

Yamamoto, Kostin, Bjugstad, Shore out.. i miss one piece here.
They need one more 3rd liner.
Cant throw out Kostin plus Bjugdtad and not replace that.