Is Connor Brown Going To Save The Edmonton Oilers Top 6?

There shouldn’t be much surprise in the fact that Connor Brown has signed with the Edmonton Oilers. You have to give the management team of the Oilers credit for the way they structured the deal in order to keep this year’s cap hit down, but still adding some incentive for Brown.

The signing of Connor Brown hopefully is an upgrade on the recently traded Kailer Yamamoto. He will likely play on the second line with Leon Draisaitl. There may also be an opportunity to play on the first line with Connor McDavid as well.

Is Connor Brown Going To Save The Edmonton Oilers Top 6?

Since Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl have been on this team the Edmonton Oilers have never had a solid top 6. There have always been questions or players that you hoped would fit in the top 6 roles.

Right now I believe that the Edmonton Oilers now have the best top 6 they have had in a really long time. This top 6 may even be one of if not the best in the whole NHL. Let us take a look at how this top 6 is going to look now.

Kane – McDavid – Hyman

Nugent-Hopkins – Draisaitl – Brown

The only real difference between this top 6 to last season’s top 6 is the second-line right winger. That being said that is really where he need was for the Edmonton Oilers going into the last couple of seasons. With Brown, we aren’t hoping for his potential to be unlocked in the top 6 as he has already shown it as he has a couple of 20-goal seasons under his belt.

Between Puljujarvi and Yamamoto they only have one season where they have a  20-goal season. Connor Brown has never played with high-end players like McDavid or Draisaitl. The last time he scored 20 goals was in the COVID-shortened season when he lead the Ottawa Senators with 21 goals in only 56 games played.

Bonus Heavy Contract Will Benefit Everyone

Going into this offseason the one major problem for the Edmonton Oilers trying to improve their team was cap space. This contract between the Oilers and Brown was the perfect way to get around that.

The base salary for Brown’s one-year deal is $775,000, but there is over $3 million of potential bonus’ to be made on top of that. This means the cap hit against the Edmonton Oilers is $775,000, but if Brown makes all the bonus markers he can make up to $4 million this season.

The bonus overages will be pushed into next year’s salary cap. This is good as the cap is going up and fitting the bonus’ it will be a much easier task than getting the cap to fit in this season.

Overall, I think bringing in Connor Brown is a good move for the Edmonton Oilers. The Oilers can’t be taking gambles on top 6 players anymore. They need a player that has proven in the past he can have success. Brown does that for them.