Connor Brown is ready for a do-over on the fresh start he was looking to get with the Edmonton Oilers.
Arriving last year in an attempt by team management to reconnect him with former junior linemate Connor McDavid, Brown found himself thrust into the spotlight on the top line in a role that soon proved he wasn’t near ready for.
Not with having come off knee surgery that limited him to just four games in the 2022-23 season.
But that didn’t dissuade the Oilers from bringing him in on a one-year contract worth $4 million.
Things soon sifted into place and Brown found himself sliding down the lineup to the second, third, then fourth line and even winding up a healthy scratch at times.
It took him 56 games with his new club before finally finding the back of the net.
While he finished with 12 points (four goals, eight assists) in 71 games, Brown managed to carve his niche on a potent Oilers penalty kill, while also entrenching himself on a third line alongside Adam Henrique and Mattias Janmark that oozed chemistry and proved a spark plug for the Oilers’ late push through playoffs.
This time around, the line all returned in free agency, the knee is back under him and his eyes are looking on the horizon of the season to come.
“I definitely feel healthier, so that’s obviously a positive,” Brown said following an optional skate ahead of Wednesday’s season-opener against the visiting Winnipeg Jets. “Obviously, with this group last year was last year and it’s important for us to stay in the moment and come prepared.
“Obviously, every team in the league wants a good start. Those are the results we want, that’s the goal we’re trying to achieve. But for us, it’s important to stick to our process of what makes us a good team. And what we learn here as a team and what we continue to learn that makes us good.”
After making it all the way to Game 7 of last year’s Stanley Cup Final, Brown and the Oilers have headed into this season with the focus of staying the course.
“Sometimes you’ve got personnel change and that’s going to affect how you play,” Brown said. “We have some new guys in so I think there might be some little things like that, but as far as our team, I think we’ve found some success in the brand we played last year.
“So, I can’t imagine many changes.”
And that goes double for members of the third line, who made their impact felt on the scoreboard during that playoff run more than members of the bottom-six on a team like Edmonton’s probably should.
“I think it’s important to contribute offensively,” said Brown, who added six points (two goals, four assists) in 19 playoff games last year. “Especially sometimes at home, you get some matchups and you’re trying to play defensive and just defend the whole game. I try to score and create opportunities, so we’re just going to go out there and play.”
A year ago, Brown was the only new face among the Oilers starting lineup, compared to a handful of additions on the ice for opening day Wednesday.
“There is definitely some more comfortableness with the familiarity of the group and the staff and the city, and all the things that go into moving a young family,” Brown said. “Definitely a little more settled and I’m just looking forward to it.
“I think we get caught up in how we want to do and what kind of start we want to have. At the end of the day, that group in there loves to play hockey, this is what we love to do, we enjoy it. So, it’s just another opportunity to go out there and have some fun.”
And you can bet it was much more fun skating onto the ice to open a new season Wednesday than the way they skated off of it following a 2-1 loss to the Florida Panthers in Game 7 of the final.
“It’s important to kind of detach from last year,” Brown said. “When there’s highs and lows like that in a season, it can linger with you, so it’s important for us to just detach and to get back to the moment and back to the process of playing one game at a time here. One period. It starts with a good shift. It starts with building the identity of our group.”
As for getting another chance to start things off on the right foot with the Oilers, Brown said he learned something about himself last year.
“I think resilience is obviously something that comes to mind,” he said. “Being able to kind of persevere through physical challenges and mental hurdles. I’m grateful to be back with this group and have another shot at it.”
E-mail: [email protected]
On Twitter: @GerryModdejonge
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