EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — There's no question that Connor McDavid was the biggest reason the Edmonton Oilers were able to win the Stanley Cup final against the Florida Panthers.
The other Connor also played a key role in the return.
Connor Brown assisted on the early shorthanded goal that saved the Oilers from a sweep, 8-1, in Game 4, then scored a point in Game 5 to send the series back to North America. Brown was criticized for poor performances in his first season in Edmonton, but 20 months after tearing the ACL in his left knee, he's finally found his groove. And it couldn't come at a better time for the Oilers.
“It's really great to see him overcome a lot of adversity and hang in there until the end,” coach Chris Knobloch said Wednesday. “He just took a while to get his game back on track, which is understandable with the injuries he's been through. He's steadily gotten better throughout the season. … His play right now is exceptional.”
Brown injured his knee in just his fourth game with the Washington Capitals on Oct. 17, 2022. At the time, the Capitals were counting on Brown to show the speed and scoring ability he showed during his first seven NHL seasons with Toronto and Ottawa, but Brown relied on short-time teammates John Karlsson and Carl Hagelin, as well as the team staff, to help him through the mental side of such a traumatic injury.
“Obviously it hasn't been an easy year for me,” Brown said at the Cup Final media day. “I came into the team not knowing anybody, just trying to get some experience, then I got hurt. It was a lot of adversity for me, but it's what got me here.”
Brown, who turned 30 in January, signed an incentive-heavy contract with the Oilers that paid him a league-minimum salary of $775,000 per year, plus $3.225 million in performance bonuses. One reason fans have been critical of Brown's mere 12 points in 71 games is because the extra money will count against the team's salary-cap expenditures next season.
He won four points in three rounds before making a big impact in the final.
“I think a lot of people lost faith, but he's an unbelievable player,” said top-line winger Zach Hyman, who overlapped with Brown for four seasons with the Maple Leafs from 2016 to 2019. “I played with him for a long time, so I knew how good he was, and he shows it every night. On the biggest stage, he's one of the best players out there. He deserves all the credit.”
Brown, a decade removed from playing alongside McDavid as a junior teammate under Knoblock for the Ontario Hockey League's Erie Otters, found himself not fully healthy early this season and struggled to deal with limitations before slowly finding the leap in his legs again, translating into the speed he's now unleashed against the Panthers.
After weathering the dark days of injury and rehab, Brown “just started playing again,” and suddenly hockey was fun again.
“The last few months haven't felt like work at all,” Brown said. “I look forward to coming to the rink every day with this team. I'm happy to be back.”
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AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL
