Oilers viewed as the frontrunner to sign Connor Brown: report

The Edmonton Oilers appear to be the favourites to land soon-to-be free agent Connor Brown.

On Thursday morning, the Oilers announced that they traded Kailer Yamamoto and Klim Kostin to the Detroit Red Wings for future considerations. This freed up some much-needed cap space, and according to TSN’s Chris Johnston, puts them in a great position to sign Brown in free agency.

“I think it’s natural for us to connect the dots here with Connor Brown, who’s due to be an unrestricted free agent,” said Johnston. “He has a history with Connor McDavid, shares an agent with him in Jeff Jackson. Has played with Zach Hyman among others in the past.”

From @PierreVLeBrun & @reporterchris: Discussing if the Oilers' cap clearing trade with the Wings opens the door for a potential Connor Brown signing and how the Blackhawks are taking a gamble by acquiring pending UFA Corey Perry just before July 1. https://t.co/mDYQ7L9usI

— TSN Hockey (@TSNHockey) June 29, 2023

Johnston said that because Brown missed nearly all of the 2022-23 season due to injury, he won’t take up the $3.1 million in cap space that Yamamoto did.

There is some concern about the player Brown will be after having undergone ACL surgery in November, but if he is anything like he was before the injury, this could be a fantastic pickup for the Oilers. He has twice hit the 20-goal mark in his full six NHL seasons, and in 2021-22, had 39 points in 64 games with the Ottawa Senators.

As alluded to by Johnston, Brown has a connection with McDavid in that the two spent time together with the Eerie Otters in the OHL. Brown recently sat down with Sporstnet’s Luke Gazdic and discussed the possibility of playing with the Oilers captain in the future.

“It would be awesome to play with [McDavid],” Brown admitted. “More so, more than anything, he’s going to win a Cup here eventually. As a player, that’s what I want to do.”

While Brown to the Oilers makes sense for several reasons, the main one is that their roster is very thin on the wing. After dealing Yamamoto, they have no natural right-wingers on their roster, making the potential addition of Brown not only exciting but also necessary.

You might also like:
• Oilers trade Yamamoto and Kostin to the Red Wings