DALLAS — Connor Brown would be the first person to say his season hasn’t gone according to plan.
Regaining his form after a devastating knee injury seemed to take forever. There was the goal drought that felt like it was never going to end. Getting healthy scratched for an entire round, after he finally felt good about his game and after waiting five years to return to the playoffs, was an unpleasant situation for him.
So to finally feel like a helpful piece to an Edmonton Oilers team three wins away from reaching the Stanley Cup Final is rewarding.
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Potting a rebound past Dallas Stars netminder Jake Oettinger in Game 2 of the Western Conference final — his second career postseason goal — only solidified that.
“It’s nice to contribute offensively five-on-five,” Brown said. “I feel like my process, my game has been good since stepping into the lineup here. Having fun out there, and it’s always fun to score.”
The Oilers are seeing Brown near his best, something that started to surface down the stretch of the regular season. It took him a long time to get to his point, though — and a long time to feel good about himself.
DOWNTOWN CONNOR BROWN 🔥 pic.twitter.com/xUU92mlrVb
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) May 26, 2024
Brown is normally unflinchingly pleasant, quick with a smile and easy to laugh. It was difficult to exude that bubbly persona at times this season, especially early on.
“There were lots of times when I wasn’t positive this year,” he said. “When I’m struggling to score and provide what I know I can, when I know that I have a certain level and I don’t feel that I’m bringing it, I felt like at times I was hard on myself.”
It’s not hard to understand why.
Brown was the Oilers’ only July 1 signee. Because of his injury and his service time in the league, the Oilers were able to offer him an incentive-laden contract with a low cap hit. He was the perfect guy to add, at least in theory, for a contending team pressed against the salary cap.
Brown was supposed to be a top-six fixture, an appreciable upgrade over the likes of former younger wingers like Kailer Yamamoto and Jesse Puljujarvi. The Oilers knew he’d need some time to get up to snuff after missing all but four games last season with a torn ACL.
But it seemed like things were trending in the right direction when Brown ended the preseason with a two-goal, one-assist effort against Calgary. That couldn’t have been further from the case.
“McDavid set me up for two goals. They were both on and off my stick. I think my assist was off my shin pad,” he said with a chuckle. “Obviously, I wanted the injury to come along quicker. Things come along at the pace they’re going to.”
By the first road trip of the season, Brown was comparing himself to Will Ferrell’s “Ricky Bobby” movie character making his comeback and feeling out of sorts. He was having trouble re-adjusting to the NHL.
Throw in missing six games with an unrelated lower-body ailment in November, and the start of the season couldn’t have gone any worse. He couldn’t shake the effects of his major injury. He wore a knee brace until December.
“It’s been difficult. I would be lying to say anything but. It’s probably been the biggest challenge of my career,” Brown said. “Going from that and then not feeling physically up to par. Speed and skating is a big part of my game.
“Not to have that as a strength at the beginning of the year was obviously very difficult. That led to a lack of offence and some mental hurdles. It was a snowball in the wrong direction.”
Those on the Oilers understood what Brown was going through.
“It’s hard. It’s an adjustment. Your knee or your body is never really the same, so you’re adapting to a new normal,” said winger Zach Hyman, who tore his ACL in 2019 and sprained his MCL in 2021. “It takes time.”
Added coach Kris Knoblauch: “An injury like that — taking a full season off — you might be cleared physically to play, but it takes longer to really get your game (back).”
Brown had started to ramp up his performance before Christmas. Knoblauch was noticing it.
The problem, at least for the player, was the Oilers were improving rapidly. They were adding pieces to the roster, too.
Brown was healthy scratched for the first time in New Jersey in December but missed just one game because Sam Gagner got hurt.
He also was the first player removed from the lineup to accommodate the pre-trade deadline additions of Adam Henrique and Sam Carrick in March. It wasn’t difficult to pick up on the fact the Oilers needed to acquire someone like Henrique because Brown hadn’t been more impactful.
The Oilers were earmarking a 20-goal campaign from him. He hadn’t even scored once yet.
The turning point for Brown came when that elusive goal finally went in against Washington on March 13. It didn’t matter that it was the seventh goal in a 7-2 win or that it went in off his skate.
Brown finished the regular season with an underwhelming four goals and 12 points in 71 games. (Steven Bisig / USA Today)
It was Brown’s 55th game and the Oilers’ 64th. It was also his first goal in almost two years to March 24, 2022 — a span of 72 games.
“The last two months, that’s when he really started to take off,” Knoblauch said. “A lot of it had to do with him scoring that goal, getting that confidence of just putting the puck in the net.”
Brown scored three more times to finish with four goals and 12 points in 71 games. An otherwise disappointing campaign ended on a high note.
“I genuinely feel that I’m a lot stronger for going through all that,” Brown said. “I feel great about my game now. I felt like I excelled in the role I was given in the last 15-20 games and was able to start producing offensively.”
That’s what made getting the news from Knoblauch that he wouldn’t be in the lineup to start the playoffs so “surprising.”
Knoblauch opted to insert sophomore winger Dylan Holloway after a late-season call-up, which knocked Brown out of the picture. It wound up being for the entire first round.
It was a difficult conversation between the winger and bench boss. The two go way back. Brown was Knoblauch’s captain in the coach’s first full season with the Ontario Hockey League’s Erie Otters in 2013-14.
“The decision that we had to make as a coaching staff was: What does each player give us?” Knoblauch said. “He ultimately just got pushed out. It was difficult. But when we told him he wasn’t going to be playing that first game, that he would be coming in at some point, each game he was always on our mind and almost inserted into the lineup.”
Brown put his head down and tried not to be a distraction.
“My focus stayed on myself and what I could do to get better during the time,” he said. “Just wait for the opportunity and focus on myself. I felt like I did a good job of that.
“It felt like a breeze, to be honest, after everything I went through this year — with the injury and the goal drought and all that stuff. I felt like I’m pretty well equipped to handle that adversity at this point. But, of course, it’s disappointing because I’m a competitor. I want to play. I want to be a part of this.”
It took a lower-body injury from Henrique for Brown to make his Oilers postseason debut in Game 1 of the second round against the Vancouver Canucks. It was his first playoff game since 2019 with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Not only was it underwhelming — he played just 7:35 — but it was short-lived. Brown was held out of the next game when it was deemed Henrique was healthy enough to play.
But the Oilers jumped the gun on Henrique, who was limited and ineffective that night and hasn’t played since.
In his place, Brown has found a way to be helpful. And that was before getting his first goal on Saturday.
Just as in the regular season when offence was hard to come by, Brown has taken pride in his two-way game and penalty killing. He’s been a fixture on the PK when he’s been in the lineup, skating mostly with fellow fourth-liner Mattias Janmark and helping the Oilers to a 92.7 percent success rate in the playoffs.
Henrique is “very close” to being ready for duty in his series, according to Knoblauch, who’s hopeful the veteran forward can suit up in Game 3 or 4.
It’s far less likely Brown will be the player coming out to make room for Henrique this time around. Carrick is the only player in the bottom six not being deployed on the penalty kill, which limits his serviceability. Ryan McLeod hasn’t made much of an impact and it’s possible Henrique takes his spot at third centre and on the PK.
No, Brown’s contributions still aren’t exactly what the Oilers expected of him when they pursued him in free agency. There’s nothing that can be done about that now. Nor is there anything that can be done about that hefty $3.225 million bonus, most of which will be applied to next season’s salary cap as an overage.
All that matters now is Brown is healthy and playing a useful role. Both those things finally appear to be the case.
“I feel back to 100 percent. I’m through the roof,” Brown said. “My strength is full bore. My speed’s there. I’m sure that’s noticeable.
“It’s nice to feel like myself again physically, and also feel stronger mentally for everything I’ve been going through.”
(Top photo of Mattias Janmark and Connor Brown: Jerome Miron / USA Today)
