What about Brown?

[pulfordfan]

Seeing some posts about Brown. What I can tell the majority of members feel that he should be moved to make room for some prospect that some feel are ready for the big league. I personally like Brown, he has excelled i n every level except last season, which was not terrible. OHL and AHL and his rookie season were outstanding. Good work ethic, speed and never questions were he plays. I think he should be part of the core going forward. He's got bigger and stronger, he battles. Responsible defensively Cap friendly contract. Not sure but probably good in the dressing room judging from his interviews and looks like babs and teammates like him. What's your thoughts about Browns future with the leafs.

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[613Leafer]

He's a solid top 9 winger. He's versatile and can play any role really, and I think the offence will get better.

I also think he's a valuable trade piece we could actually afford to move in the right deal (i.e. for a legit top 4 RHD). Between Hyman, Brown, Kapanen, Johnsson, Grundstrom, etc, we can afford to trade a young winger with upside more than we can afford to trade from any other position.

 

[bluumax]

I really really like Brown, but if he's the difference in getting that top paring D then we have depth at that position and can afford to loose him.

I think everyone in this board likes Brown, its just we have surplus of talent on the wings and his value is quite high, sometimes you have to use that.

 

[MR4]

I think he's essentially topped out on his potential, I don't see enough offensive skill/creativity for anything more. So sell high on the fact you can sell him as a young 20 goal scorer

 

[Walshy7]

I think he's essentially topped out on his potential, I don't see enough offensive skill/creativity for anything more. So sell high on the fact you can sell him as a young 20 goal scorer

he is a 30 point player. He is already 24 yrs old there isn't a lot of growth left before his peak years. Can't question his commitment one bit but as a 30-40 point player that shouldn't get you into 'core' piece category. If we keep him id be totally happy, but I think moving forward he will be surpassed by Kapanen, Johnsson and grundstrom pretty quickly. All 3 of them can PK and Kapanen and Johnsson have shown there is still more growth in them at the nhl level if given roles higher up the lineup like brown was given they IMO could score 30-40 points but still have more growth to go higher than that. Grundstrom of course is more of a gut feeling but I think he can score more than brown.

 

[SprDaVE]

He's been one of my favourite prospects and players since we drafted him. He's a workhorse with skill and he's very smart.

Unfortunately, in a cap world, you can't keep all your players and especially not the "secondary" players. You also have to give to get in trades and he's a player that teams love to have.

I hope he sticks around for a long long time but we have to be realistic.

 

[A1LeafNation]

He was on a bad line last year. If no Tavares...

Marleau Kadri Marner
Hyman Matthews Brown
Johnsson Nylander Kapanen

 

[BoredBrandonPridham]

I think he's essentially topped out on his potential, I don't see enough offensive skill/creativity for anything more. So sell high on the fact you can sell him as a young 20 goal scorer

If the Leafs board isn't going batshit crazy at the thought of trading him, it's probably already too late to sell high.

 

[MR4]

He was on a bad line last year. If no Tavares...

Marleau Kadri Marner
Hyman Matthews Brown
Johnsson Nylander Kapanen

Anyone that writes down Hyman-Matthews-Brown as a line they want to see again is one that didn't watch the games

 

[A1LeafNation]

Anyone that writes down Hyman-Matthews-Brown as a line they want to see again is one that didn't watch the games

They are all developing still. Last year was their second year as nhlers. Hard to set that in stone at this point.

 

[deletethis]

Cost controlled, no effort issues, some nice modest NHL level skill, not pouty, doesn't have to be handled carefully, etc. What's the issue? Keep him and play him.

But... I know how the sheep act. They had their daily tantrums over Komarov and Martin. If those two are gone they have to move on to a new target. And it won't be someone perceived to be shiny and new.

 

[CabanaBoy5]

He was on a bad line last year. If no Tavares...

Marleau Kadri Marner
Hyman Matthews Brown
Johnsson Nylander Kapanen

Brown with Matthews with Hyman on the other wing? No, never again. If you want to continue to piss off our star player, do that. Nothing against Brown, but why saddle our best player with two plugs? I'd guess that's one of the reasons Matthews said he'd love to play with Marner.

 

[lifelonghockeyfan]

I like Brown but he his potential seems to be a good 3 liner and PKer. I'l like to keep him unless he can be traded for a competent NHL Dman, but they would take Brown and more.

 

[Trapper]

I really really like Brown, but if he's the difference in getting that top paring D then we have depth at that position and can afford to loose him.

I think everyone in this board likes Brown, its just we have surplus of talent on the wings and his value is quite high, sometimes you have to use that.

He’s not the difference for a top pairing D and right now we need to see where we are going.
If Nylander moves to centre that’s a big loss on the wing and we still have unproven depth at this point. Maybe down the line but we need to see Johnsson/Kappy healthy for a full 82 NHL season. And stay consistent for that time.

 

[Fogelhund]

Brown is a very good player to have on the Leafs. He loves playing here, gives 110% effort every night, and as per above a good PKer. He's also a player that you hope to move out, and replace internally, with a cheaper contract, should he ask for too much on deal #3.

 

[saltming]

Seeing some posts about Brown. What I can tell the majority of members feel that he should be moved to make room for some prospect that some feel are ready for the big league. I personally like Brown, he has excelled i n every level except last season, which was not terrible. OHL and AHL and his rookie season were outstanding. Good work ethic, speed and never questions were he plays. I think he should be part of the core going forward. He's got bigger and stronger, he battles. Responsible defensively Cap friendly contract. Not sure but probably good in the dressing room judging from his interviews and looks like babs and teammates like him. What's your thoughts about Browns future with the leafs.

I like Brown but he's not a core player

 

[egd27]

Too much character and work ethic......not enough points last year. Time to move on and replace him with a flashier offensive winger.

 

[Buds17]

Probably going to be enough uncertainty with our UFA forwards that I wouldn't be looking to trade Brown. However, if an idea is to trade from a stronger area to address a weaker one, RW (and Brown) would potentially be somewhere to do that.

 

[LeafGrief]

Brown is a middle six capable winger who puts up some decent points/goals at even strength and is very valuable on the PK. He's basically a swiss army knife of a player, very versatile and is the kind of guy who plays the type of game that Babcock loves. I don't think he has much more upside, but can certainly post 40 points if he gets quality minutes instead of bounced around on the fourth line. He's signed for two more years.

When his current contract ends, if he's looking at much of a raise he will probably be moved. He will command good value as every team in the league would be happy to put him on ice and a few of them will be able to afford the $3-4m+ that he's looking for. But for the next two years we will keep our hard-hustling little honey badger on a cheap contract. If his third contract is more reasonable then we should keep him for the duration of that as well. He's exactly the type of player that we want to have cementing our depth.

 

[therealkoho]

keep underestimating Connor, he always seems to get the last laugh

 

[TakeTheBody]

I like Brown. However if a trade comes up for a 2-3 d-man and he's a part of the trade. Buh bye Connor. Best Wishes......

 

[Mess]

Too much character and work ethic......not enough points last year. Time to move on and replace him with a flashier offensive winger.

LOL

When is sarcasm ringing with truth an understatement?

If the Leafs move Nylander to the middle as the #3C then the most likely candidate to join Auston and Zach is Connor Brown again. Babcock feels comfortable with the trio playing them against any line due to their defensive awareness.

Connor Brown is a coach favourite due to the things you mentioned as in character, work ethic and versatility playing up and down the line-up and on both specialty teams.

 

[ottomaddox]

He was on a bad line last year. If no Tavares...

Marleau Kadri Marner
Hyman Matthews Brown
Johnsson Nylander Kapanen

Does this imply that Matthews is not a 1C and that Nylander is an actual C?

 

[Morgs]

I like Brown, but he's just not one of the best 6 (Nylander, Marner, Marleau, Hyman, Johnsson, Kapanen) wingers on the NHL team. He should not be playing in the top-9/have any PP time.

We're also deep on the farm with guys like Grundstrom, Korshkov, Engvall, Bracco, and Aaltonen (etc), so we should trade him before teams realize he's just not that good.

 

[Silver91]

When put in a position to succeed, he can do well enough, as evidenced by his 20 goals playing predominantly on Matthews' wing. Thing is, that handcuffs 34 a bit, as he plays better with better players (who woulda thunk it?).

Problem for Brownie is that, with all the depth and talent we have on the wings, he is unlikely to be getting that kind of opportunity again. Right now, in Toronto alone (NHL and AHL), there are Marner, Nylander, Hyman, Marleau, Kapanen, Johnsson, and Grundstrom who all are/have the potential to be better than Brown in very short order. All of Hyman, Marleau, Kapanen and Johnsson (possibly Grundstrom as well) can fill the same roles that Brown does, with at least one skill that stands out above everything he has, and all put in just as much effort on the ice.

If I'm Dubas, as much as I like Brown the person, and even the professional, I look to move him to a team that is looking for offensive depth, that sees a youngish player capable of putting up 20 and can PK, and get some solid assets before they see him for what he is, which is a nice piece, but not a core player on a contending team. I look at him similar to Versteeg. Nice support player, but not someone you keep around once they get surpassed on the depth chart.