The team is in disarray and their goaltenders could not stop a beach ball going 7 miles an hour.
The good news is that the team may have gotten themselves out of a bad contract with a clever clause.
Brown missed almost all of last season due to injury. As a result, the Oilers made him an interesting contract offer which Brown agreed to.
The deal is for league minimum, but it contains an interesting clause. If he plays 10 or more games for the Oilers this season, he will get a 3.25 million dollar bonus.
The associated cap hit for that bonus will be applied next season.
Interestingly, Brown left his last game early with an injury. While it did not seem that serious at the time, he did not play in the Oiler's last game, their 10th of the season. Brown remains with the team but his next game would cost them a lot of money.
Perhaps management is working with the coaching staff to buy themselves time before they make a decision.
Committing to Brown would mean an extra 3.25 million against the cap next year and so far he hasn't exactly looked like he's worth that much money.
This could be Brown's final chance to play in the NHL. To this point he's played in 457 games, recording 90 goals and 216 points in the process.
A very solid career for a former 6th round draft pick.
As seen on Maple Leafs Daily:
Former Leaf on the cusp of being waived by his new team
POLL | ||
Should the Oilers waive Connor Brown? | ||
Yes | 373 | 45.3 % |
Should have done it already | 232 | 28.2 % |
No | 218 | 26.5 % |
List of polls |