Connor Brown may be the perfect example that a great playoff can completely make up for a bad regular season.
The Edmonton Oilers had many fans excited when they chose to sign Brown to a one-year contract last offseason as as free agent. Despite coming off of a torn ACL, fans believed Brown would have no issue returning to form and perhaps even set new career highs in goals and points.
That turned out to be far from the case, as the 30-year-old had a nightmare of a regular season, taking 55 games to score his first goal. Though he did play better from there on out, he still ended the season having scored just four goals and 12 points in 71 games, a far cry from what was expected from the two-time 20-goal scorer.
Due to his struggles, Brown sat out the first few playoff games for the Oilers before being given an opportunity in the bottom six. He took it and ran, forming an elite penalty-killing group with Mattias Janmark that quickly grabbed the hearts of all Oilers fans. Suddenly, he’s gone from a player fans couldn’t wait to get rid of to one they hope sticks around. Based on his comments today, there seems to be a strong chance of that happening.
“This is where I want to be,” said Brown, who’s set to become a UFA in less than a week. “My heart is here with everything we’ve done and the fans. How they treated me when I finally scored was great, and it is a great place to be.”
Due to his struggles throughout the regular season, Brown can likely be brought back by the Oilers on an inexpensive contract, and by the sounds of things, he wants nothing more than to stay put.
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