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Connor Brown

Snapshots: Brown, Hintz, Koppanen

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Oilers winger Connor Brown left today’s victory over Dallas with an upper-body injury.  He was injured late in the second period on a hit from Alex Petrovic.  Speaking with reporters postgame (video link), head coach Kris Knoblauch indicated that there was no immediate update on Brown’s status.  The 31-year-old has been a quality secondary scorer in the playoffs with five goals and three assists in 14 games despite being questionable for a few games with another injury.  If Brown isn’t available for Tuesday’s matchup, one of Viktor Arvidsson or Jeff Skinner would likely take his place in the lineup.

Elsewhere around the NHL:

  • With Roope Hintz being a late scratch against Edmonton, Stars head coach Peter DeBoer was asked after today’s game about his status. He noted (video link) that the center wasn’t particularly close to being able to play and had he been close, he would have played.  Hintz took the pregame warmup but left only a few minutes in and DeBoer’s comments appear to call into question Hintz’s potential availability on Tuesday.  Hintz has five goals and six assists through 15 playoff games, good for a share of second in team scoring heading into today’s loss.
  • Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review suggests that pending UFA winger Joona Koppanen would be wise to move on in free agency this summer in a move that could work well for him and the Penguins. The 27-year-old played in 11 games with Pittsburgh this season, scoring once while adding 23 points in 56 AHL contests with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.  While Koppanen can kill penalties, Kyle Dubas tends to prefer a lot of depth which could put him further down the depth chart if he were to re-sign compared to some other teams where a path to a recall could be easier to reach.

Oilers’ Brown In For Game 1, Ekholm Remains Out

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Connor Brown will be in the Oilers’ lineup for tonight’s Game 1 against the Dallas Stars, while key defender Mattias Ekholm remains out, per a team release.

Brown missed the team’s gameday skate today, and coach Kris Knoblauch noted he’d be a game-time decision. However, Brown’s undisclosed injury will not keep him from playing in tonight’s contest. Brown will continue to skate next to Evander Kane and Adam Henrique on the team’s third line. Had Brown not been available, Viktor Arvidsson would have likely taken his place in the lineup, per TSN’s Ryan Rishaug.

Brown played every game for the Oilers this season, both during the regular season and the playoffs. He recorded 13 goals and 30 points in the regular season and has stepped up offensively in the playoffs, with four goals and seven points in 11 games. He’s averaging 15:19 of ice time per game in the playoffs.

Ekholm remains out but is progressing toward a return after fully participating in practice today, per Mark Spector of Sportsnet. As Spector notes, the team announced Ekholm will miss Games 1 and 2, but his full participation in practice today sparked speculation that his return could come sooner than expected.

Ekholm has played just once since late March, returning for a single game on April 11 after a seven-game absence, only to aggravate his injury again. The 34-year-old has missed all of the team’s playoff games. In 65 regular-season games, Ekholm recorded nine goals and 33 points while averaging 22:12 of ice time per game.

Oilers Re-Sign Connor Brown

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9:07 a.m.: Edmonton has confirmed that Brown is sticking around at his reported one-year, $1MM price tag.

8:10 a.m.: The Edmonton Oilers have re-signed winger Connor Brown to a one-year, $1MM extension, per PuckPedia (Twitter link). The deal comes as a slight guaranteed raise from Brown’s one-year, $775K contract last season, though that deal carried $3.225MM in performance bonuses which he met.

Brown’s one-year deal last summer put him in a spot to succeed Klim Kostin’s bruting role next to Connor McDavid. Kostin fit the bill to good effect, with 11 goals and 21 points in 57 games last season. Brown wasn’t able to do the same, going through the first 54 games of the season with just five assists. It wasn’t until game 55 that Brown scored his first goal of the year – and he heated up when he finally broke the curse with four goals and seven points in his final 17 games of the season. Brown concluded his year with just 12 points in 71 games – adding two goals and six points in 17 postseason games.

Despite the abysmal scoring, Brown has earned a raise on his next deal with the Oilers, with the team likely hoping that Brown can be much more productive with the monkey off his back. With Brown signed, Edmonton now sits with $12.933MM in cap space to fill five forward spots and two defense spots.

Trade Deadline Primer: Edmonton Oilers

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With the All-Star break in the rear-view, the trade deadline looms large and is now less than a month away. Where does each team stand, and what moves should they be looking to make? We continue our look around the league with the Edmonton Oilers.

For the second consecutive season, the Oilers started slowly. The team started so poorly this season that it resulted in the firing of head coach Jay Woodcroft after just 13 games. Since their 3-9-1 start to the season, Edmonton has rebounded under Kris Knoblauch with a 27-7 record that includes a near-record 16-game winning streak. The Oilers now once again look like a legitimate Stanley Cup contender and will no doubt be looking to add to their lineup at the trade deadline. The club has already been linked to Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jake Guentzel and will surely be in on some of the other big names in the upcoming weeks. The Oilers don’t have much in the way of cap space and will need to get creative to fill in some of the remaining holes on their roster. But with the uncertainty around the futures of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, they are likely to do everything they can to add to an already formidable lineup.

Record

30-16-1, 3rd in the Pacific

Deadline Status

Buyer

Deadline Cap Space

 $2.374MM on deadline day, 0/3 retention slots used, 46/50 contracts used, per CapFriendly.

Upcoming Draft Picks

2024: EDM 1st, EDM 2nd, EDM 5th, EDM 6th, NASH 6th
2025: EDM 1st, EDM 3rd, EDM 4th, EDM 5th, EDM 6th, EDM 7th

Trade Chips

Edmonton probably isn’t looking to move much off of their NHL roster to facilitate a trade, however, they will likely need to shed some salary to acquire any high-priced talent. There have been rumors in recent weeks that they would like to shed Cody Ceci and his $3.25MM cap hit, and they also have Jack Campbell toiling in the AHL with his $5MM cap hit, but if Edmonton wanted to move on from either player it would require a sizeable asset to move the money out.

The Oilers do have some assets if they want to make a big move, as they still possess their first-round pick in the next few drafts and have most of their other draft capital as well. There will also be interest in defenseman Philip Broberg despite his lack of NHL success. The 22-year-old hasn’t exactly had a seamless transition to professional hockey, but he is having a strong season in the AHL.

Edmonton has one of the worst farm systems in the NHL, but it isn’t without a couple of intriguing players. Xavier Bourgault is not having the type of season he or the Oilers were hoping for with just six goals and 10 assists in 39 AHL games. The 2021 first-round pick is ranked by many as the Oilers’ top prospect and has shown that he is a great special teams player, but his scoring just isn’t there at even strength. He along with Broberg could be pieces of a bigger package to acquire a big-name player. But if they are the central pieces, it might require the Oilers to give up multiple first-round picks.

Another Oilers prospect is Raphael Lavoie whose size will certainly be alluring to teams who are looking for a big center with untapped potential. Lavoie is having a decent season in the AHL with 15 goals and 11 assists in 33 games, but at 23 years of age, it is hard to consider him a prospect at this point, especially one that can fetch to top-6 forward such as Guentzel.

If Edmonton does want to make a splash, it may require moving out young forward Dylan Holloway, who hasn’t found his offensive game in the NHL but does have good underlying numbers and will almost certainly be an NHL player. Holloway has posted good offensive numbers in the AHL but hasn’t spent of ton of time playing in Edmonton’s top-9 and could find that side of his game if given a chance.

One other intriguing prospect who could draw some interest is Matvei Petrov. The 20-year-old has had a slow start to his professional career with Bakersfield this season, and had a terrific, albeit brief OHL career with the North Bay Battalion. The former sixth-round pick has just five goals and three assists in 30 AHL games with the Condors but had 67 goals and 116 assists in 128 career OHL games. Petrov has good vision and hockey sense but is on the lighter side at the moment and could become much stronger on the puck if he could fill out his 6’2” frame.

Other Potential Trade Chips: D Beau Akey, F Maxim Berezkin

Team Needs

1) Top-6 Forward: The Oilers shuffled their lines yesterday and moved Corey Perry onto their second line. While Perry still has a role in the NHL, his days of being a top-6 forward are well behind him. The Oilers have a considerable gap between their top five forwards and all the remaining ones. Therein lies the need for another top-six winger. The Oilers would probably love to get a right shot forward, however, the market may force them to look at the left side which is why Guentzel’s name is being thrown around. If Edmonton can’t land a top-six forward, they could opt for a top-9 forward as a fallback option. Something they thought they were getting last summer when they signed Connor Brown.

2) A Reliable Second Goaltender: An argument could be made for an additional defender, but goaltending has been problematic for the Oilers for quite some time, which is why they signed Campbell two summers ago. Stuart Skinner has performed admirably for the Oilers and has earned the starter net. However, Edmonton would do well to find a solid backup who could take the net if Skinner were to falter or be dealt an injury. Alex Nedeljkovic out of Pittsburgh could be a good option should the Penguins falter and opt to sell at the deadline.  The Vegas Golden Knights showed last year that a team can never have too much reliable goaltending, and while the Oilers have three goaltenders who can play in the NHL, two of the three have a history of seeing their play fall off considerably. Something the Oilers can’t have as their contention window gets smaller and smaller.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Oilers Assign Dylan Holloway To AHL

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The Edmonton Oilers have assigned forward Dylan Holloway to the Bakersfield Condors of the AHL, presumably for the NHL all-star break. Holloway missed nearly two months with a lower-body injury before returning for a brief AHL stint that preceded an eventual recall to the Oilers last week.

Holloway had two goals and two assists in his brief trip to the AHL earlier in the month as he worked his way back into game shape. At the NHL level, Holloway has dressed in 17 games for the Oilers and has been used sparingly in a bottom-six role. He has two goals and a single assist while averaging 11:20 of ice time per game.

Despite the minimal usage and the injury, Holloway returned last week to the Oilers and impressed as he centered the fourth line with Sam Gagner and Connor Brown on either side. Holloway assisted on Gagner’s game-winning goal last Friday against the Calgary Flames and then added a goal on Monday against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Now with the Oilers out of action until February 6th it appears likely that the team would like Holloway to keep playing through the break to maintain the momentum he has built up since returning from injury. The former 14th overall pick might have to cancel his vacation plans over the next week, but he should receive an opportunity to play some big minutes in Bakersfield and will likely receive a call-up sometime during the first week in February.

Connor Brown To Return Saturday And Reach His Bonus

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With the Oilers looking to add to their roster over the summer with limited cap space, they had to get creative.  Since Connor Brown missed most of last season with a torn ACL sustained in the fourth game of the year, he was eligible for a bonus-laden one-year contract.  Accordingly, Edmonton inked him to a one-year deal worth only $775K as the base salary but also gave him a $3.225MM bonus that becomes payable when he reaches his tenth game of the season.

The 29-year-old got off to a slow start and was held off the scoresheet in Edmonton’s first nine games of the season despite averaging close to 15 minutes a night while spending a lot of time in the top six.  However, Brown suffered a lower-body injury a little over two weeks ago, delaying him reaching that bonus.

That will change on Saturday as Brown confirmed today (video link) that he will be good to go against Tampa Bay, meaning he will play in his tenth game and reach that bonus.

Whatever amount, if any, Edmonton finishes under the $83.5MM salary cap will be applied to cover some of Brown’s bonus.  The remainder will then roll over to their 2024-25 cap charges, meaning that the majority of the projected increase in the cap will be spent on paying for Brown’s deal this season.

Brown remained on the active roster for the Oilers during his injury so no corresponding roster move needs to be made.  While Edmonton now has 13 healthy forwards on its roster, there isn’t any benefit to sending one down after the team went into LTIR following the injuries to Dylan Holloway and Mattias Janmark; they won’t be able to bank any extra cap space if they sent their spare forward back to AHL Bakersfield.  In the meantime, they’ll hope that Brown can become the key two-way forward he was back with Ottawa where he had his best three seasons from 2019-20 through 2021-22.

Oilers’ Raphael Lavoie Sent To AHL

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The Edmonton Oilers have announced that they’ve sent forward Raphael Lavoie to their AHL affiliate the Bakersfield Condors. Lavoie did not require waivers to be demoted as he cleared them at the beginning of the season and did not play in ten games or spend 30 days on the Oilers roster.

Lavoie dressed in five games for the Oilers and didn’t record any points. He was utilized in a sheltered fourth-line role with the big club and averaged less than eight minutes of ice time per game. The club did their best to protect the 23-year-old as he took 65% of his zone starts in the offensive zone.

Lavoie has had a terrific start to his season in the AHL registering four goals and three assists in just five games. Last season, the former second-round pick dressed in 65 AHL games for the Condors and posted 25 goals and 20 assists. Given his steady offensive improvement and the fact that Lavoie was one of the Oilers’ last training camp cuts, it is fair to say that he could earn another look later in the season. Particularly, if the Oilers decide to sell off some of the veteran players should the season get away from them.

Lavoie’s demotion may be a signal that veteran forward Connor Brown is ready to return for Edmonton. Brown called himself day-to-day just five days ago which indicated that he was inching closer to a return. He has missed the two Edmonton games since those comments, but the sentiment is that he could be back this week. Much like Lavoie, Brown has struggled this season as he too is pointless thus far.

Injury Updates: Brown, McDonagh, Kastelic, Bear

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Oilers winger Connor Brown took the pregame today but play-by-play voice Jack Michaels relayed (Twitter link) that he wound up being a late scratch.  He’s officially listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury.  Edmonton doesn’t have enough cap space to carry an extra forward so they played today’s game against Nashville short a player.  Accordingly, it makes them eligible for an emergency cap-exempt recall of a forward making $875K or less should Brown still be unable to play on Monday against Vancouver.

It’s worth mentioning that when Brown does suit up for his next game, he will receive a $3.25MM bonus as part of the contract he signed with Edmonton this summer, one that guaranteed him just the NHL minimum.  Any amount of that bonus that the Oilers can’t absorb on their books this season would be treated as a carryover penalty and would count against their 2024-25 cap charges.

Other injury news from around the hockey world:

  • Also a late scratch from the Edmonton-Nashville game today was defenseman Ryan McDonagh. The Predators announced (Twitter link) that the blueliner is dealing with a lower-body injury and that he’s listed as day-to-day.  The 34-year-old has played in ten games so far this season, picking up a pair of assists while averaging exactly 20 minutes a night, his lowest ATOI since his rookie year back in 2010-11.  Marc Del Gaizo made his NHL debut in McDonagh’s absence.
  • Senators center Mark Kastelic is dealing with an ankle sprain, notes Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch (Twitter link). Yesterday, head coach D.J. Smith suggested that the 24-year-old would miss a few games but now stated that Kastelic “won’t play any time soon”.  Kastelic was placed on IR yesterday, meaning he’ll be out for at least a week.  He has been held off the scoresheet in his first nine games this season.
  • Postmedia’s Patrick Johnston relays that free agent defenseman Ethan Bear appears to be on track from his recovery from shoulder surgery and should be ready to play next month. The 26-year-old was injured playing at the Worlds back in May which played a role in him being non-tendered by Vancouver a month later.  While a reunion with them could make sense, they’d need to find a way to open up cap space over the next few weeks for that to happen.

Edmonton Oilers Sign Connor Brown, Two Others

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Per Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli, the Edmonton Oilers have finalized a one-year contract with forward Connor Brown. The deal will have a $775K cap hit but includes an additional $3.25MM in potential performance bonuses, coming off an ACL injury that cost him most of the 2022-23 season.

They’ve also added winger Drake Caggiula back to their organization on a two-year, two-way contract with a $775k AAV, according to The Athletic’s Daniel Nugent-Bowman. Caggiula is an impact AHL scorer who also has experience as an NHL bottom-six winger. He spent three seasons with the Oilers from 2016-17 to 2018-19.

The Oilers have also made one more depth signing, inking blueliner Ben Gleason to a two-year $775k AAV contract, per PuckPedia. The deal is a two-way pact for the first year and a one-way deal in the second, carrying a $425k AHL salary in year one.

The Brown signing is a savvy move for both Brown and the Oilers for a variety of reasons. For Brown, this deal gives him the best chance of a quality, productive season to allow him to cash in on next year’s free agent market. A former teammate of Connor McDavid in the OHL, Brown has a very strong chance of ending up on either McDavid or Leon Draisaitl’s wing.

Seeing as those players are routinely two of the NHL’s top scorers (with McDavid expected to lead the NHL in scoring and win the Hart Trophy pretty much every season) Brown is in line to fly past his career-highs in production, similar to what another former Maple Leafs winger, Zach Hyman, has done in Edmonton.

For Edmonton, this move lands them a quality two-way second-line player at a league-minimum cap hit, as most of the deal’s financial value is tied up in bonuses. Given how Edmonton figures to press right up against the salary cap this season, the structure of this contract allows them to potentially push the bulk of Brown’s cap hit to next season.

There likely wasn’t going to be a path for Edmonton to acquire a better player than Brown on the free-agent market. Understanding the team’s needs and limitations under the cap, it’s hard to argue with this free-agent addition.

East Notes: Maple Leafs, Lightning, Sabres

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While the Toronto Maple Leafs did finally win a playoff series this season, a five-game loss at the hands of the Florida Panthers in the second round erased most of the team’s forward momentum and goodwill with the fanbase. Team president Brendan Shanahan and new general manager Brad Treliving seem content to keep the team’s core intact, so any answers from outside the organization are likely going to come through free agency.

The Athletic’s Jonas Siegel today speculated defenseman Dmitry Orlov should be the team’s top target on the unrestricted free agent market, citing a need for a more puck-moving inclined defender to replace Jake Muzzin and Rasmus Sandin. He’ll likely cost more than $6MM per season on a multi-year deal, one that may not age particularly well given he’s already 31, but he showed with both Washington and Boston this season that he can still handle big minutes and big competition with strong results on both sides of the puck.

Among forwards, Siegel listed Connor Brown, Evan Rodrigues, Tyler Bertuzzi, and Lars Eller as potential adds on the open market.

Also in the Eastern Conference news cycle today:

  • Stealing the Ottawa Senators’ thunder from earlier this week, Sportico reports the Tampa Bay Lightning are selling a minority stake in the club to Arctos Sports Partners at a massive $1.4 billion valuation. It’s over a ten-fold rise in franchise valuation in 13 years – majority owner Jeff Vinik purchased the team in 2010 for just $170MM. He’ll retain his majority stake in the team, so this won’t lead to any notable changes at the top of the franchise’s organizational pyramid.
  • The Buffalo Sabres have mutually agreed not to extend their affiliation with the ECHL’s Cincinnati Cyclones, Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News reported Thursday. Per Lysowski, the team is close to an agreement with a new affiliate at that level. Since 2017, two netminders with playing time in Cincinnati had advanced to Buffalo’s NHL lineup: Michael Houser and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.

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