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

[Sheikyerbouti]

Hes been far better in the last 3 games. Anyone who actually watches & has even a remote understanding of the game would see & know that.

Still not the worth the money though. While he's been better he isn't accomplishing anything, just caught up to the play

 

[McFlash97]

Some People in here acting like Connor Brown is some consistent 30 goal scorer who had yet to hit his stride and has been a disappointment.. Such a gullible group of fans. Brown has 1 season where he even hit 40+ points.

This is a 35-45 point player at his peak at this point in his career.

He isn't reaching either number.

Bring up Gagner, play Sam a full season and I can guarantee a 50 point player.

 

[tiger_80]

Some People in here acting like Connor Brown is some consistent 30 goal scorer who had yet to hit his stride and has been a disappointment.. Such a gullible group of fans. Brown has 1 season where he even hit 40+ points.

This is a 35-45 point player at his peak at this point in his career.

He isn't reaching either number.

Bring up Gagner, play Sam a full season and I can guarantee a 50 point player.

correct about Brown. But Gagner can enjoy his retirement. You know the team is screweed the moment he gets signed or traded for. lol.

 

[alphahelix]

People are looking at Brown as if he is both a $4M player this year and costs $3.25M in dead cap space next year. This year he is a $775K player. If he was not there the replacement is an Erne or Gagner level player. So the realty is that the Oilers could either have a replacement level player this year or a replacement player next year. The team chose to put their money in this year and take their chances next year. Pay me now or pay me later.

One can criticize the $4M tag but at best next year a player of his caliber is going to cost $3M+. And if thecap rises by even more than predicted, probably more.

If you’re right that Brown would be worth 3M+ next year, we’ll be paying him 6.25M+ next year to play on our bottom 6. Jeff Jackson isn’t going to cut Connor McDavids buddy loose the year before his contract is up.

Brown is a 4 million dollar player this year delivering like a 775k player. We’re just amortizing the cost over multiple years, but what we’re paying him for this year is 4M. We could have run Lavoie or Pedersen In his place and it wouldn’t cost us any production thus far.

Oilers need to take advantage of the 10 game window and give him a conditioning stint so that if we do wind up paying him 4M it’s because he deserves it not because we’re cowards who got bent over at the negotiating table and couldn’t figure out how to manage their way out of a paper bag.

 

[guymez]

How do you compare players? Just age? Or their ability to contribute? Wheeler may well contribute more than Brown. Wheeler could actually end up playing longer than Brown beyond this year depending how Brown's knee holds up. Both were UFA, both could get bonuses on their deals in this season. Only one had uncertainty about their ability to contribute at all this season. Kind of humorously they both have almost identical stat lines right now and play the same position.

Main dif between these players is how desperate we let ourselves be to get one of them. Wonder if Wheeler would have signed a 4M bonus loaded deal instead of 1.3M. Not that I would ever think that is a good idea either, even though he got 55 points in 72 games and had a decent pkayoff round (6 points +2 in 5 games) last year

Well...if you are going to use players as comparable then yes...age matters.
I mean one player is still in his prime and one player has one foot out the retirement door.

Wheeler is also getting paid by Winnipeg so of course he is going to sign for lower value.
Terrible comparison.

 

[oobga]

Well...if you are going to use players as comparable then yes...age matters.
I mean one player is still in his prime and one player has one foot out the retirement door.

Wheeler is also getting paid by Winnipeg so of course he is going to sign for lower value.
Terrible comparison.

I mean, we could have offered Wheeler the exact same contract as we gave Brown. Both are just one year. Extra 2.7M in Wheeler's pocket with a chance to show up the Jets playing with McDavid or Drai. Wheeler has vastly outperformed brown for many years including the last 2.

 

[guymez]

I mean, we could have offered Wheeler the exact same contract as we gave Brown. Both are just one year. Wheeler has vastly outperformed brown for many years including the last 2.

Wheeler didnt want to play in Canada. You can only sign a player that wants to be here.
Again...terrible comparison.

 

[oobga]

Wheeler didnt want to play in Canada. You can only sign a player that wants to be here.
Again...terrible comparison.

He didn't want to extend in Winnipeg. He just wants to try to win a cup. Don't think he ever said he is against any Canadian team, but feel free to correct me with a quote. He took a discount on a contender with a spot for him. Looks like we had 4M free for a bonus loaded deal to try to get such a player as a supposed cup favorite. Desperate for a top 6 right shot RW too. What a perfect situation that was. Doubting it ever crossed Holland's mind though.

 

[guymez]

He didn't want to extend in Winnipeg. He just wants to try to win a cup. Don't think he ever said he is against any Canadian team, but feel free to correct me with a quote. He took a discount on a contender with a spot for him. Looks like we had 4M in a bonus loaded deal to try to get such a player as a supposed cup favorite.

It was being reported and it makes sense. Wheeler was born in the US.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Hes been far better in the last 3 games. Anyone who actually watches & has even a remote understanding of the game would see & know that.

Yeah sure bud. If by better you mean in reference to brown being complete ass the first 5 games. "Anybody with even a remote understanding of the game would see and know that.."

He hasn't done a f***ing thing. Not too thrilled either the player himself is singing his own praises and ays he's looking real fast and creating chances. By his own account. For a player thats done nothing its off-putting. maybe do something here before flapping your gums Connor Brown. Seems like an arrogant guy.

Really I don't even think its been Brown playing better for 3 games. He looked OK in Heritage Classic in a game against the Flames who seemed to have more trouble with the ice for some reason. Mostly he's looked slow and behind the play.

Plus I pay attention to what is bs. 2mths ago in Early September Connor Brown was blowing smoke about how he's feeling really good, ready to go, having no problems. Thats 2 mths ago. But here we are 2mths later and Connor Brown still "finding his way" and "nearly there" and "feeling really good" Yeah I pay attention to how similar the quotes are as if time has stood still.

'Hyman-type player': Brown already being compared to fellow Oiler

Connor Brown reminds his new Edmonton Oilers teammates of Zach Hyman. Assuming that comparison holds, he looks like a great addition.

www.sportsnet.ca

Seems like we should reasonably have expected something from the player who was ready to go two mths ago. "Hyman type player" lmfao

 

[oobga]

It was being reported and it makes sense. Wheeler was born in the US.

He played 12 years in Winnipeg, signing 2 extensions in that time. And an extra 2.7M cash for 1 year to play with McDrai. I'm doubting that wouldn't be very appealing to stick it out for 8 or so months. But of course. Likely was never even entertained by our end. July 1st fixation was 100% on giving Brown a blank cheque

 

[guymez]

He played 12 years in Winnipeg, signing 2 extensions in that time. And an extra 2.7M cash for 1 year to play with McDrai. I'm doubting that wouldn't be very appealing to stick it out for 8 or so months. But of course. Likely was never even entertained by our end.

You are sure jumping to a lot of conclusions to support a comparable that doesnt make sense on multiple levels.
Its okay to be wrong.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Thing is Connor Brown is seeing 16mins a night of TOI. Only 5 Oilers forwards getting more ice time.

Of these Drai has 13pts, Connor Mcdavid and Hyman have 9pts, Nuge has 7pts Kane has 6pts

Brown, bringing up the rear on the team has zero pts. One of these is not at all like any of the others. Plus lets consider that Brown is -5 with appreciable GA thus far. So its not a case of him swimming either, or being a low event player either. Its a case of him having worse than Adam Erne stats here, who just got waived.

 

[Drivesaitl]

He played 12 years in Winnipeg, signing 2 extensions in that time. And an extra 2.7M cash for 1 year to play with McDrai. I'm doubting that wouldn't be very appealing to stick it out for 8 or so months. But of course. Likely was never even entertained by our end. July 1st fixation was 100% on giving Brown a blank cheque

Absolutely it was. Holland with the help of Connor McDavid dialed in on one player and thats it. Brown was rumored to be an Oilers potential acquisition since the season before and even AFTER he misses a complete season due to injury the Oilers are once again a main suitor, not even dissuaded by the fact. Its tunnel vision, zeroing in one player. Well look at the results. Could be theres a message here. but Holland not getting it.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Some People in here acting like Connor Brown is some consistent 30 goal scorer who had yet to hit his stride and has been a disappointment.. Such a gullible group of fans. Brown has 1 season where he even hit 40+ points.

This is a 35-45 point player at his peak at this point in his career.

He isn't reaching either number.

Bring up Gagner, play Sam a full season and I can guarantee a 50 point player.

The media are guilty of this gullibiltiy too, and they help to create it. Connor Brown in 2023 was a pretty much nothing acquisition. But you'd never know it from the local scribes immediately comparing him to a guy that had 83 pts.

Its easy to sell snakeoil in this market.

Brown isn't even a 35pt player. Post injury we don't know he's much of anything.

its actually uncanny to me that the winger "replacing" Yamamoto is actually far worse than him. Only the Oilers could have such a low bar expectation and still crawl way under it. All I heard in the offseason was how Connor Brown completes our topsix and is another Hyman. lolol

i didn't think any player could make me miss Kailor Yamamoto and really I don't just trying to find some humor in this mess.

 

[JustNapalmIt]

Yeah sure bud. If by better you mean in reference to brown being complete ass the first 5 games. "Anybody with even a remote understanding of the game would see and know that.."

He hasn't done a f***ing thing. Not too thrilled either the player himself is singing his own praises and ays he's looking real fast and creating chances. By his own account. For a player thats done nothing its off-putting. maybe do something here before flapping your gums Connor Brown. Seems like an arrogant guy.

Really I don't even think its been Brown playing better for 3 games. He looked OK in Heritage Classic in a game against the Flames who seemed to have more trouble with the ice for some reason. Mostly he's looked slow and behind the play.

Plus I pay attention to what is bs. 2mths ago in Early September Connor Brown was blowing smoke about how he's feeling really good, ready to go, having no problems. Thats 2 mths ago. But here we are 2mths later and Connor Brown still "finding his way" and "nearly there" and "feeling really good" Yeah I pay attention to how similar the quotes are as if time has stood still.

'Hyman-type player': Brown already being compared to fellow Oiler

Connor Brown reminds his new Edmonton Oilers teammates of Zach Hyman. Assuming that comparison holds, he looks like a great addition.

www.sportsnet.ca

Seems like we should reasonably have expected something from the player who was ready to go two mths ago. "Hyman type player" lmfao

This is spoken by a guy who clearly has no real comprehension as to the effect of missing a whole year has/ can have on a player. And that NHL games are just slightly different from practices, exhibition games, captain skates. Not much. Just slightly.
Kinda odd that player after player gets it (not just on the Oilers but league wide in similar circumstances) as well as from coaches and analysts, that it takes some time, but some dude on a keyboard is goin on and on, making grand pronouncements and conclusions, after 8 games, clearly believing that its some fantasy.
Thats , ah, amusing.

 

[Drivesaitl]

This is spoken by a guy who clearly has no real comprehension as to the effect of missing a whole year has/ can have on a player. And that NHL games are just slightly different from practices, exhibition games, captain skates. Not much. Just slightly.
Kinda odd that player after player gets it (not just on the Oilers but league wide in similar circumstances) as well as from coaches and analysts, that it takes some time, but some dude on a keyboard is goin on and on, making grand pronouncements and conclusions, after 8 games, clearly believing that its some fantasy.
Thats , ah, amusing.

lolol. The org of course is turd polishing this player. What else they got. There isn't even a production pulse with this player. LIke I said the player himself said multiple times he's ready, feeling great, ready to go. He's been saying it for the past couple months.

Give examples, anybody, of middle of the road players that have missed COMPLETE seasons that have come back successfully to much of anything. I'll wait for it. I've asked for this several times and crickets. Nobody has any examples. People mutter Hyman as if the length of being absent from hockey is anything comparable.

Its quite likely that Connor Brown wasn't enough of a player in the first place to comeback to be that much after a long absence from hockey.

Connor Brown isn't Mario Lemieux coming back from Lymphoma. he doesn't have much to draw on in first place. Certainly not a topline player as advertised. He wasn't adequate at that before coming here.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Lets unwrap this too for perspective on how long its been since Connor Brown produced anything. Its not just this season.

Walk with me through time immemorial..

Connor brown has zero goals zero pts in 8 games with Oilers. He's a stinking -5, worst of all forwards on the club by miles.

For Washington Connor brown played 4 games, was -3 and of course ZERO pts. See a pattern?

Out of curiosity I figured I'd look at his last season in Ottawa and I didn't even expect the trend to be so bad. Connor Brown did not score one single goal in his last 14 games for Sens in the 21-22 season.

So cumulatively Connor Brown has not scored for 26 games in a row through 3 different teams and Connor was btw -15 on that Sens squad. He didn't even have a good year that season. Connor Browns last NHL goal was March 24, 2022. He only scored 10 goals that whole season.

This is the player we selectively went out and got to play with Connor McDavid at Connor McDavids request. A guy that hasn't scored an NHL goal in a long long time.

This is the nothing player Holland chased for two offseasons. Now we got him, oh joy....

 

[Spawn]

He played 12 years in Winnipeg, signing 2 extensions in that time. And an extra 2.7M cash for 1 year to play with McDrai. I'm doubting that wouldn't be very appealing to stick it out for 8 or so months. But of course. Likely was never even entertained by our end. July 1st fixation was 100% on giving Brown a blank cheque

Im not defending the Brown contract at all right now, but it was reported right after Wheeler was bought out that his agent had indicated was only interested in playing out east due to travel.

Unfortunately he was never an option here. That doesn’t mean there weren’t other options than Brown of course. But Wheeler wasn’t one of them.

 

[bobbyb2009]

Sorry, outsider wondering if they send Connor Brown down before Saturday 10 game bonus mark, does he only count as a 775k player (prorated for the first 9 games)? Saw somewhere on twitter that this saturday is the game 10 decision date for that bonus? If he plays, does all of the bonus count against next years cap regardless if he finishes the whole season in Edmonton (as per demotion to AHL or trade)?

If so, seems to me like there has to be a big decision taken this week. And it makes no sense to keep him for that, does it? Just yikes- Edmonton could easily get more bang for 3.25 m next year??

 

[Soundwave]

Sorry, outsider wondering if they send Connor Brown down before Saturday 10 game bonus mark, does he only count as a 775k player (prorated for the first 9 games)? Saw somewhere on twitter that this saturday is the game 10 decision date for that bonus? If he plays, does all of the bonus count against next years cap regardless if he finishes the whole season in Edmonton (as per demotion to AHL or trade)?

If so, seems to me like there has to be a big decision taken this week. And it makes no sense to keep him for that, does it? Just yikes- Edmonton could easily get more bang for 3.25 m next year??

They can pay more of the bonus this year, they just have to move out a player like a Kulak or Foegele and replace them with a minimum salary player.

It doesn't have to be a 3+ mill cap penalty for next year.

 

[Jumptheshark]

They can pay more of the bonus this year, they just have to move out a player like a Kulak or Foegele and replace them with a minimum salary player.

It doesn't have to be a 3+ mill cap penalty for next year.

I love how easy posters make this sound and that the players on min wage could be any good. We have seen what happens when we cheap out on the 3rd and 4th line. Foegele has been out performing Brown all year

 

[Fourier]

So is it basically the cap space you have at the year end?

So we could say in theory use Kulak and Foegele for the full year up until the trade deadline and then move one of them out and then that open cap can go towards Brown's salary?

The other thing that would open up is a situation where like you move out a player like Janmark for another equivalent bottom 6 player but get the other team to retain 50% so their salary is effectively 500k, that opens another 500k off Brown's bonuses.

Stuff like that.

Yes. All of those would reduce the carryover, but I suspect all such scenarios are unlikely. The most likely person to have been moved out going into the season was Foegele. But so far he has played very well. Kulak's play in both playoff years probably means he stays as well unless he is part of a deal for an upgrade.

Your last scenario makes a lot of sense. But it does not seem to me to be the type of creative move you will see from Holland purely to save cap. He did something like this to get Bjugstad on the cheap but that was necessitated by the total lack of cap space to do otherwise.

 

[Fourier]

If you’re right that Brown would be worth 3M+ next year, we’ll be paying him 6.25M+ next year to play on our bottom 6. Jeff Jackson isn’t going to cut Connor McDavids buddy loose the year before his contract is up.

Brown is a 4 million dollar player this year delivering like a 775k player. We’re just amortizing the cost over multiple years, but what we’re paying him for this year is 4M. We could have run Lavoie or Pedersen In his place and it wouldn’t cost us any production thus far.

Oilers need to take advantage of the 10 game window and give him a conditioning stint so that if we do wind up paying him 4M it’s because he deserves it not because we’re cowards who got bent over at the negotiating table and couldn’t figure out how to manage their way out of a paper bag.

No Brown is a $775K player this year. That was the whole point of the signing. You have a choice. Field the best team this year and pay for it next. Or go with a replacement level player this year and save the money in the hope that you can use the additional space next year to make your team better. The Oilers chose to make this year's roster as good a possible with the very limited space they have.

Brown has 0 points but he is not a replacement level player. He contributes in far more ways than on the scoreboard. Of course the fact that he has 0 points is extremely concerning. The move may very well backfire if his lack of production continues. But from a team building perspective it certainly did make sense.

You already brought up the Draisaitl contract issue. You seem to feel that it is next year's roster that is the major factor for him resigning. I think the opposite. His decision will most likely be far more influenced by how the team does this year. As such fielding the best possible team this year should have been the goal.

For the record, I was not thrilled with the $4M deal. I thought $3M would have been very reasonable. But the market for a guy like Brown was better this year than it would have otherwise been precisely because of his unique situation due to so many teams being tight to the cap this year while a few other teams teams had to spend like crazy just to fill out their roster. Brown would have been an attractive FA to both ends of the cap spectrum. In the end Holland over paid. Not surprising because cap management is not his thing. But the thought behind the actual move in my mind was completely justified.

 

[alphahelix]

No Brown is a $775K player this year. That was the whole point of the signing. You have a choice. Field the best team this year and pay for it next. Or go with a replacement level player this year and save the money in the hope that you can use the additional space next year to make your team better. The Oilers chose to make this year's roster as good a possible with the very limited space they have.

Brown has 0 points but he is not a replacement level player. He contributes in far more ways than on the scoreboard. Of course the fact that he has 0 points is extremely concerning. The move may very well backfire if his lack of production continues. But from a team building perspective it certainly did make sense.

You already brought up the Draisaitl contract issue. You seem to feel that it is next year's roster that is the major factor for him resigning. I think the opposite. His decision will most likely be far more influenced by how the team does this year. As such fielding the best possible team this year should have been the goal.

For the record, I was not thrilled with the $4M deal. I thought $3M would have been very reasonable. But the market for a guy like Brown was better this year than it would have otherwise been precisely because of his unique situation due to so many teams being tight to the cap this year while a few other teams teams had to spend like crazy just to fill out their roster. Brown would have been an attractive FA to both ends of the cap spectrum. In the end Holland over paid. Not surprising because cap management is not his thing. But the thought behind the actual move in my mind was completely justified.

I don’t think anyone disagrees with the thought process behind the move; I don’t disagree with it. (Taking advantage of the injury situation to push some cap to next year: but Not 3,25M- j.f.c)

I think both years will be important in Draisaitl’s decision, I don’t think this year is more important unless he signs an early extension based on results this year. 4M career high earnings is not reasonable for a guy coming off a missed season, Holland has made mistakes like this in the past. Holland even acknowledged his own sincere trepidation about handicapping next years team with this deal. Every dollar counts, and Brown is -5 and 0 points and I really don’t know that he is above replacement level right now. The juice is not worth the squeeze ATM and there’s no reason not to send him on a AHL stint until he is tearing it up at a level that does justify the damage next year. We do have players like Lavoie at the ready who can probably beat that. If you’re looking for a bottom of the roster 0 point guy Pedersen could probably beat the -5 and take some faceoffs while hes at it. Danton Heinen just signed for 775k. Theres a lot of guys out there that bring different dimensions that we could use. We have been crushed in the standings and lost crucial points while Brown has contributed little to nothing.

The real crime is spending all our cap on bumbling middling wingers during the McDrai era and never having a penny leftover to pay for real skill for the top 6. Kane was a decent swing in that direction but injury and/or age have impacted him. We don’t have one high octane skill winger that can plug in with McDrai. Even Tarasenko would have been the best we’ve ever seen up there and he was available for a song last season and 5M this season. There have been plenty of options in the 4M dollar range and we have overspent like 20M on borderline replacement non-contributors so I think we could have found the dough. We’re dumb.

But a bottom 6 guy turning 30 and needing a shot in the NHL again? He should be paying us 4M dollar to play with McDavid.