Oilers re-sign Connor Brown to one-year, $1 million contract

A rejuvenated player is staying in northern Alberta.

On Monday, the Edmonton Oilers re-signed forward Connor Brown to a one-year contract. The deal will carry a $1 million cap hit for the 2024-25 season.

The #LetsGoOilers are re-signing UFA Connor Brown for 1 year $1M.

12P in 71GP.

Rep’d by Dave Gagner @wassermanhockey https://t.co/DR9v9yS7DO

— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) July 1, 2024

Brown is coming off his first season with the Oilers. He signed with the team after having not played since October 2022, when a knee injury that he suffered with the Washington Capitals kept him out for close to a year.

The Toronto native’s cap hit in Edmonton was $775,000, but he received a $3.225 million performance bonus after playing just 10 games. Those bonuses will be added onto the Oilers’ salary cap hit next season.

Brown ended up playing 71 games, the most since the 2019-20 season with the Ottawa Senators, scoring four goals and eight assists, and was an important player as the Oilers made the trek to the Stanley Cup Final, ultimately losing to the Florida Panthers. In 19 appearances, he scored two goals and four assists, registering a plus/minus rating of +6.

His scoring touch might have been down compared to his time with the Senators, when Brown averaged close to 40 points a season, but his value as a depth player was noticeable in Edmonton this past season, similar to what many saw from him during his time with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

In 519 career NHL appearances, Brown has scored 94 goals and 228 assists, including 11 points in 39 playoff games. The 30-year-old has hit the 35-point mark four times in his career, scoring 20 or more goals twice.

Brown played every game for the Maple Leafs from 2016 to 2019, but was traded to the Senators on July 1, 2019. After three seasons in Ottawa, the Capitals acquired him for a second-round pick in July 2022.

With the signing, the Oilers have 30 players under standard player contracts for next season. According to CapFriendly, Edmonton has less than $12 million in projected cap space.