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

[alphahelix]

Connor Brown deserved to be waived and other players and agents looking at his team leading - and 0 points through the first 9 games would see that immediately. The 4M was to win us a cup as a top6 RW not play ECHL caliber hockey at the bottom of the roster. If Connor Brown was sent to California for Christmas to collect his 875K paycheck he would be counting his blessings and everyone around the league would see that he barely deserved that let alone to stick in Edmonton and collect 4M handicapping the big club next year.

Nobody would be blind to that around the league. Its a false narrative.

Its substantially more impactful that players looking to win around the league now do not see Edmonton as a team willing to do what it takes.

Vegas would have done it 10000x without a thought and thats why they're gunning for their 2nd cup.

 

[Trafalgar Sadge Law]

Connor Brown deserved to be waived and other players and agents looking at his team leading - and 0 points through the first 9 games would see that immediately. The 4M was to win us a cup as a top6 RW not play ECHL caliber hockey at the bottom of the roster. If Connor Brown was sent to California for Christmas to collect his 875K paycheck he would be counting his blessings and everyone around the league would see that he barely deserved that let alone to stick in Edmonton and collect 4M handicapping the big club next year.

Nobody would be blind to that around the league. Its a false narrative.

Its substantially more impactful that players looking to win around the league now do not see Edmonton as a team willing to do what it takes.

Vegas would have done it 10000x without a thought and thats why they're gunning for their 2nd cup.

The fact that we allowed Connor Brown to collect his paycheck and haven't bullied Jack Campbell into retiring yet will deter the free agents that actually want to win and attract the free agents who want to be coddled for an easy paycheck and warm and fuzzy feelings.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

The fact that we allowed Connor Brown to collect his paycheck and haven't bullied Jack Campbell into retiring yet will deter the free agents that actually want to win and attract the free agents who want to be coddled for an easy paycheck and warm and fuzzy feelings.

Easy $ and an incredibly long runway to prove to be useless while collecting a big payday. At the end of the day this team is trying to win, that could be done by waiving guys like Brown and Campbell and claiming other players with team friendly cap hits. Stop acting like we're the ugly duckling and can never attract anyone as a FA and have some damn respect for the jersey and the city.

 

[La Bamba]

Connor Brown deserved to be waived and other players and agents looking at his team leading - and 0 points through the first 9 games would see that immediately. The 4M was to win us a cup as a top6 RW not play ECHL caliber hockey at the bottom of the roster. If Connor Brown was sent to California for Christmas to collect his 875K paycheck he would be counting his blessings and everyone around the league would see that he barely deserved that let alone to stick in Edmonton and collect 4M handicapping the big club next year.

Nobody would be blind to that around the league. Its a false narrative.

Its substantially more impactful that players looking to win around the league now do not see Edmonton as a team willing to do what it takes.

Vegas would have done it 10000x without a thought and thats why they're gunning for their 2nd cup.

And that’s why Jeff Jackson is already in the negative for me. This organization is soft and feels bad for guys who make millions.

I wish I could be shit at my job and still get a 3.25 USD bonus because my employer is afraid of what other people think of them.

 

[Tobias Kahun]

Easy $ and an incredibly long runway to prove to be useless while collecting a big payday. At the end of the day this team is trying to win, that could be done by waiving guys like Brown and Campbell and claiming other players with team friendly cap hits. Stop acting like we're the ugly duckling and can never attract anyone as a FA and have some damn respect for the jersey and the city.

Didnt they waive Campbell?

 

[Bryanbryoil]

Didnt they waive Campbell?

Yes, but Brown's contract screws us more next season that a bought out Campbell will.

 

[Tobias Kahun]

Yes, but Brown's contract screws us more next season that a bought out Campbell will.

Agreed

Agreed

The contract signing wasnt the biggest issue, its the fact they let him play that 10th game when he clearly isnt close to being good enough.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

Agreed


The contract signing wasnt the biggest issue, its the fact they let him play that 10th game when he clearly isnt close to being good enough.

If he was an impact player and had say 8 goals and 8 assists by now at least he'd be helping the team outside of the penalty kill. Instead he has 1 measly assist.

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

New year, new Brown.

 

[brentashton]

New year, new Brown.

Same stain.

 

[MoontoScott]

Same stain.

This thread is taking on a life (and significant volume) that we haven't seen since the storied career of Jessie Puls. I'm guessing 10K posts before this one is done. You wonder what there is to debate with 1 secondary assist.

 

[Sheikyerbouti]

The contract signing wasnt the biggest issue, its the fact they let him play that 10th game when he clearly isnt close to being good enough.

Ya, the contract was dependent on recovery, by game 10 it was very clear what we actually had. The mistakes up until that point were pretty excusable imo. Not voiding the contract has created a serious problem for next season.

 

[Stoneman89]

This thread is taking on a life (and significant volume) that we haven't seen since the storied career of Jessie Puls. I'm guessing 10K posts before this one is done. You wonder what there is to debate with 1 secondary assist.

This one is also trending into legendary status lengths and ridiculousness, up with the Robbie Schremp, Yakupov, and Omark threads.

 

[brentashton]

This thread is taking on a life (and significant volume) that we haven't seen since the storied career of Jessie Puls. I'm guessing 10K posts before this one is done. You wonder what there is to debate with 1 secondary assist.

You are not wrong. However when the team doesn’t execute a contractual waive on a 4Mill payment you can appreciate why it continues to get air.

 

[MoontoScott]

You are not wrong. However when the team doesn’t execute a contractual waive on a 4Mill payment you can appreciate why it continues to get air.

Gentleman Ken doesn't do stuff like that. I think his next job is probably with Bettman in the league's central offices. Ken doesn't want to do anything to upset the apple cart.

 

[Trafalgar Sadge Law]

I mean let's not kid ourselves. Puljujarvi, Yakupov, and Omark even in their worst seasons were much better players than Connor Brown. Heck Rob Schremp had 3x more points in 3x less games as an Oiler than Brown.

 

[Mr Positive]

Having to sign good players to what theyre worth isnt a nightmare situation, insert expletive here...

Not being ABLE to sign those players, Not being ABLE to fill the holes on this team so we can be a legitimate contender... THATS a nightmare situation. With the Campbell buyout and the Brown overage, there is NO cap increase next year in Edmonton, and there are expiring contracts. We'll have less money next year per player. Take this middling clusterf738 of a team and downgrade it going into Drais final year. Nice


We have a gaping hole at G, Top 6 RW, bottom 6 RHC and Top4RD. None of these things can be addressed now until some of Bouch/McDrai leave or are traded (and they are completely irreplaceable).

Build over.

The Brown overage doesn't stop us from filling all the holes on the team. It does make it harder, which sucks but it's just too far to say it's a nightmare.

Also it's not clear to me what we would do if the Campbell contract or the Brown overage never happened.

We would have these holes still, and yes more cap space. Except, we could only spend it on one year deals if we need to keep this space aside for Draisaitl, Bouchard and McDavid. And btw the big opportunity lost here is almost all from imagining the Campbell contract being gone. The Brown overage is all space set aside for Drai's raise.

Ultimately what makes it not a nightmare? Like I said, the team is playing much better now and the team is signed up for next year. The one emergency is goaltending, and probably does get resolved. The other holes are pressing but they are the kind of holes that every team has. We are in a cap world with no fully built perfect superteams. If our sins are Ceci and a missing 2nd line RW that's bad but not a nightmare.

 

[Fourier]

Regardless of how badly this signing has and might well go in the future, there was no chance that Holland or any other GM in the league was going to bail on Brown before the bonus was earned. Everyone in the business would have seen the deal as a $4M contract with a structure that allowed for cap deferral. The amount can be criticized, and I think it was excessive, but the only way this was not going to be fully paid was if he reinjured himself and could not play 10 games.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

Regardless of how badly this signing has and might well go in the future, there was no chance that Holland or any other GM in the league was going to bail on Brown before the bonus was earned. Everyone in the business would have seen the deal as a $4M contract with a structure that allowed for cap deferral. The amount can be criticized, and I think it was excessive, but the only way this was not going to be fully paid was if he reinjured himself and could not play 10 games.

Would it have been terrible to send him down for a month to see if he could find his game there? Vegas would've done it, no question in my mind.

 

[Trafalgar Sadge Law]

Regardless of how badly this signing has and might well go in the future, there was no chance that Holland or any other GM in the league was going to bail on Brown before the bonus was earned. Everyone in the business would have seen the deal as a $4M contract with a structure that allowed for cap deferral. The amount can be criticized, and I think it was excessive, but the only way this was not going to be fully paid was if he reinjured himself and could not play 10 games.

Would've been a perfect time to fire Ken Holland then too.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

Would've been a perfect time to fire Ken Holland then too.

He's Jackson's human shield for his first year here. The clock on Jackson starts ticking this upcoming offseason. IMO it should already be starting. Where are the smart additions?

 

[Davo Ikinzom]

there was no chance that Holland or any other GM in the league was going to bail on Brown before the bonus was earned.

Vegas would have buried him in the AHL and kicked his dog.

 

[Fourier]

Would it have been terrible to send him down for a month to see if he could find his game there? Vegas would've done it, no question in my mind.

That was an option. But he was always going to get his 10 games unless he was hurt.

Vegas would have buried him in the AHL and kicked his dog.

Not a chance.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

That was an option. But he was always going to get his 10 games unless he was hurt.


Not a chance.

I mean unless he completely crapped the bed in the AHL too. It is a performance based business after all.

 

[Fourier]

I mean unless he completely crapped the bed in the AHL too. It is a performance based business after all.

The clause was simply a loop-hole to defer the cap. Everyone in the NHL would have treated it the same way. Franky I doubt any other team would have sent him down after 9 games.

Brown's play will actually cost him money if it continues. Seravalli and Friedman both stated that he had multi-year offers in the $3-4M range from several teams. If he does not turn it around those will not be there next year.