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It looks like Connor Brown, the big-name free agent signing of the summer for the Edmonton Oilers, is going to be a healthy scratch for Thursday’s game against New Jersey.

This in from Bob Stauffer of the Oilers, Edmonton’s practice lines with Brown bumped down to the role of fifth forward, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins back up on the top line and Calvin Pickard in the starter’s net.

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RNH-McDavid-Hyman
Kane-Draisaitl-Foegele
Janmark-McLeod-Gagner
Erne-Hamblin-Ryan
Brown

Nurse-Ceci
Ekholm-Bouchard
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Gleason

Pickard
Skinner

My take

1. When the Oilers signed Connor Brown this summer, they hoped they were getting the second coming of Zach Hyman. Instead Brown has played like the new Patrick Russell. Russell was an OK defensive winger who went 45 games on the wing in 2019-20 without scoring a goal. Then there was Tobias Rieder, 67 games in 2018-19 with no goals for the Oilers. Russell and Rieder are not players you want as your comparables if you’re an NHL winger.

2. There is no denying Brown’s struggles at even strength. He’s yet to score a goal. He’s got just one point in 23 games. To make matters worse, he’d been part of a strong penalty kill but against the Islanders he failed to cut out a cross-seam pass on the first goal against, then failed to cover the shooter Bo Horvat on New York’s second power play goal. Even his strength went to crap in that game.

3. I’ve had a lot of patience with Brown. I still do. I still suspect he’s going to help the Oilers make the playoffs and win in the playoffs. But it can’t hurt him to sit out a game. It’s a shot to his pride, but perhaps it’s a needed joblt, a way for him to help reset.

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4. Brown is coming off major knee surgery that saw him miss all but four games last year. He also got banged up this year and missed six games. I’ve had patience because he’s been a strong two-way player in the past, and sometimes it takes time for a player to regain his old form. Of course, sometimes players get hurt and never make their way back as strong NHLers. We all saw how Andrej Sekera’s game and mobility dropped off drastically after a major knee injury. That could be the case with Brown but it’s too early to tell.

5. Has Brown been getting his chances to score? Yes, he’s directed 15 Grade A shots on net, eight of them of the most dangerous kind, 5-alarmers. With that shot quality you’d expect him to have about four even strength goals by now. I’d also expect he’d have about four assists by now, eight points in total, which would put him at about the same level of scoring as Derek Ryan and Ryan McLeod.

5. I’m not a huge fan of the Draisaitl, Kane and Foegele line, mainly because Draisaitl and Kane both tend to wander and lose their check on defence, making this line a defensive liability. It also strikes me that on the attack Draisaitl could use someone to set him up with swell passes. My preference would be to see Sam Gagner get a shot with Draisaitl and Foegele, who is playing excellent two-way hockey this year. Gagner still has the good hands to make a deft pass or tricky shot. He might well work better with Draisaitl than Kane, who has struggled at times with puck control.

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At the Cult of Hockey

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