July 1, 2023 by Ryan Lotsberg

The worst kept secret in this year’s NHL free agency period was made official on Saturday. The Edmonton Oilers signed Connor Brown to a one-year contract with a cap hit of $775,000 in 2023-24 with maximum potential performance bonuses of $3.25 million, which could be applied to next year’s cap spending, on Saturday.

The 29-year-old Toronto native only appeared in four games for the Washington Capitals before missing the rest of the season with a knee injury, which is why he was eligible for the performance bonus laden contract. Prior to that, Brown put up 39 points in 64 games with the Ottawa Senators. 

The Oilers have been looking for a right winger that can finish for a few years now. Brown a two-time twenty goal scorer. His career shooting percentage is 11.6%, but he’s arrived at that average with a 17.1% effort in 2020-21, and a 14.4% showing in his first full NHL season. He has three seasons between 9.1% and 9.4%, and one at 8.3%. It’s fair to say that he’s an above average finisher that has potential for more.

He spent three seasons in Ottawa, and he averaged over 0.6 points per game in all three seasons. 0.6 points per game equals 49 points over an 82 game season. Ottawa wasn’t a good team in Brown’s tenure. The players he will have the chance to skate alongside in Edmonton are much more skilled than the linemates he had in Ottawa. Brown has played with Connor McDavid before, but that was in junior with the Eerie Otters of the OHL. Time will tell if the two will have chemistry at the NHL level or not.

Brown is known as a good forechecker with a decent shot. He will be asked to do a lot of the dirty work on a scoring line for the Oilers. Brown is a solid penalty killer as well, so I would expect him to be in the penalty killing rotation. Brown isn’t the elite top six winger like Patrick Kane or Vladimir Tarasenko, but he’s a solid bet to be able to provide tremendous value in an important role for the Oilers in 2023-24.

Related: Oilers will target Connor Brown in free agency

The Oilers made two other signings on Saturday. Drake Cagguila is returning to the organization on a two-year, two-way contract with an AAV of $775,000. Caggiula previously played in 156 games for the Oilers from 2016-17 to 2018-19, and he got 49 points. If you recall, he was traded for public enemy number one Brandon Manning during the 2018-19 season. Caggiula has since made stops in Chicago, Arizona, Buffalo, and Pittsburgh. He spent most of last season playing for Pittsburgh’s AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

He's coming back 👊

The #Oilers have signed forward Drake Caggiula to a two-year, two-way contract with an AAV of $775,000.#LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/vaqb2lFJL5

— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) July 1, 2023

Lane Pederson also signed a two-year deal with an AAV of $775,000 with the Oilers. Pederson is a soon to be 26-year old right-handed centre that has 11 points in 71 career NHL games with Arizona, San Jose, Vancouver, and Columbus.

Pederson and Cagguila will be in the mix for bottom of the roster forward spots in training camp, but my expectation is that both players will spend the vast majority of their time playing in Bakersfield.

Also, the Bakersfield Condors announced that they have signed four players. Goalie Tyler Parks, defenceman Connor Corcoran, defenceman Jake Johnson, and forward Cameron Wright were all signed to AHL contracts by the Condors.

Here’s a look at the updated Oilers depth chart and cap situation after these signings:

Kane ($5.125M) – McDavid ($12.5M) – Hyman ($5.5M)

Nugent-Hopkins ($5.125M) – Draisaitl ($8.5M) – Brown ($775k)

Foegele ($2.75M) – McLeod (RFA) – Ryan ($900k)

Holloway ($925k) – Janmark ($1M) – 4RW

Cagguila ($775k), Pederson ($775k)

Ekholm ($6M) – Bouchard (RFA)

Nurse ($9.25M) – Ceci ($3.25M)

Kulak ($2.75M) – Desharnais ($762,500)

Broberg ($863,333)

Skinner ($2.6M)

Campbell ($5M)

Total Player Cap Hit: $75,125,833

Buyout: Neal ($1,916,667)

Overage: $850k

Total Cap Hit: $77,892,500

Cap Space: $5,607,500

Active Roster: 20

Contract figures used courtesy of CapFriendly

I don’t believe that Caggiula or Pederson will be on the active roster to start the season, but I’ve included them here to represent bodies in the extra forward spots for budgeting purposes.

There are three roster spots left, and two of those are earmarked for RFAs Evan Bouchard and Ryan McLeod. That one roster spot, fourth line right wing, could belong to RFA Raphael Lavoie; but that isn’t a certainty. If we budget a league minimum $775,000 for that spot, that would leave $4,832,500 left over to get Bouchard and McLeod signed. 

They could create a little bit more space by sending Dylan Holloway to Bakersfield and replacing him with another league minimum contract, and they could send Philip Broberg to Bakersfield and bring Markus Niemelainen ($762,500) up to fill the seventh defenceman role. The Oilers will want the flexibility to be able to bring those players up at different points throughout the season though, so it would make sense to plan their spending as if they will both be on the roster.

It looks like Brown will be the most impactful addition to the Oilers in free agency this summer. Brown is a solid bet to outproduce Kailer Yamamoto, whose roster spot Brown will assume, at less than a third of the cap hit for the coming season. It’s a fantastic value addition by general manager Ken Holland.