Player Discussion Connor Brown (C) - Update: Signs 3 year, $10.8M deal

[DaveMatthew]

It's critical, IMO, to keep Brown.

I'd rather have him on the team than someone like Fiala.

$4.75M-$5.25M per year would be fair.

 

[bert]

It's critical, IMO, to keep Brown.

I'd rather have him on the team than someone like Fiala.

$4.75M-$5.25M per year would be fair.

Totally agree, he fits into the culture they are building. They need some continuity in the room, guys that want to be here. This isnt EA NHL where you plug this guy in here and it all works out. Teams that play together and for each other are the ones that win. Once a winning culture is established and players know whats expected of them when they get to an organization its way easier to develop players and for players to have success when they come into the locker room. When Pittsburgh and Chicago were winning cups how many times did you see a player just step in out of no where and really contribute. (heck its still happening in Pitt). Thats what the sens need to build here and Brown works his tail off every game. This is a young team they need Vets. Its imperative that players like him and Paul are signed long term.

This teams game breakers are Stutzle, Batherson, Tkachuk, Chabot, Norris and Formenton seems to be trending that way. They are still not even close to their peaks. The rest of the roster needs to be filled by players that are hard to play against. I think the team is being built like the St Louis model and I am ok with that.

 

[Sensinitis]

He’s the type of player you win with and can easily play a 2nd line role. Great leader by example for younger players too.

Paul-Pinto-Brown can arguably be the best 3rd line in the NHL in a couple of years and can play a big part in this team going deep.

 

[Xspyrit]

A Isles fan post about Connor Brown, that came after he called Brown as an "average middle 6 winger" (like when he was in Toronto)

"Lets compare Connor Brown and Oliver Wahlstrom this season

All stats from Evolving Hockey

EVO (EVEN STRENGTH OFFENSE)
Wahlstrom: 3
Brown: 2.5

Goals above replacement:
Wahlstrom: 4.9
Brown: 2.8

Wins above replacement:
Wahlstrom: 0.9
Brown: 0.5

SPAR (Standing points above replacement)
Wahlstrom: 1.6
Brown: 1

It's not even close. Wahlstrom doesn't PK but Brown has been one of the worst Pkers in the the league this season by every metric. Wahlstrom is already significanty better than Brown"


So are we overrating Connor Brown? Is he really that bad? I mean "one of the worst PKers" and not even as good as a player who doesn't produce at 0.5 PPG while having one of the highest PP TOI/GP on his team?

So what is it?

 

[SensontheRush]

A Isles fan post about Connor Brown, that came after he called Brown as an "average middle 6 winger" (like when he was in Toronto)

"Lets compare Connor Brown and Oliver Wahlstrom this season

All stats from Evolving Hockey

EVO (EVEN STRENGTH OFFENSE)
Wahlstrom: 3
Brown: 2.5

Goals above replacement:
Wahlstrom: 4.9
Brown: 2.8

Wins above replacement:
Wahlstrom: 0.9
Brown: 0.5

SPAR (Standing points above replacement)
Wahlstrom: 1.6
Brown: 1

It's not even close. Wahlstrom doesn't PK but Brown has been one of the worst Pkers in the the league this season by every metric. Wahlstrom is already significanty better than Brown"


So are we overrating Connor Brown? Is he really that bad? I mean "one of the worst PKers" and not even as good as a player who doesn't produce at 0.5 PPG while having one of the highest PP TOI/GP on his team?

So what is it?

Were a shit team.

Advanced stats still face much difficulty demonstrating that their results reflect individual players rather than team-play in general.

 

[DaveMatthew]

A Isles fan post about Connor Brown, that came after he called Brown as an "average middle 6 winger" (like when he was in Toronto)

"Lets compare Connor Brown and Oliver Wahlstrom this season

All stats from Evolving Hockey

EVO (EVEN STRENGTH OFFENSE)
Wahlstrom: 3
Brown: 2.5

Goals above replacement:
Wahlstrom: 4.9
Brown: 2.8

Wins above replacement:
Wahlstrom: 0.9
Brown: 0.5

SPAR (Standing points above replacement)
Wahlstrom: 1.6
Brown: 1

It's not even close. Wahlstrom doesn't PK but Brown has been one of the worst Pkers in the the league this season by every metric. Wahlstrom is already significanty better than Brown"


So are we overrating Connor Brown? Is he really that bad? I mean "one of the worst PKers" and not even as good as a player who doesn't produce at 0.5 PPG while having one of the highest PP TOI/GP on his team?

So what is it?

This is a perfect example of why, taken in a vacuum, advanced stats are absolutely meaningless.

 

[Xspyrit]

Were a shit team.

Advanced stats still face much difficulty demonstrating that their results reflect individual players rather than team-play in general.

This is a perfect example of why, taken in a vacuum, advanced stats are absolutely meaningless.

Thank you for the quick short efficient answers. This also tells me that I'm not crazy! (yet)

 

[SensontheRush]

Thank you for the quick short efficient answers. This also tells me that I'm not crazy! (yet)

JFresh pretty much admitted his player cards are useless because of this.

 

[Xspyrit]

JFresh pretty much admitted his player cards are useless because of this.

Do you have a link? I'd be curious to see that

Also, it's a bit like +/-, you can look at it when comparing players from the same team but even then, it's so far from telling the whole story. Was Mike Hoffman the better defensive forward on the 2016-17 Sens? Because he had the best +17. mark Stone was +12. Kyle Turris was -3

 

[ReginKarlssonLehner]

We've had something like a 90%+ PK% the last 20 or so games and climbed to 14th in the league.

How the hell Brown have those bad stats. Guy is a champ on the PK.

 

[JungleBeat]

Trade

 

[bert]

We've had something like a 90%+ PK% the last 20 or so games and climbed to 14th in the league.

How the hell Brown have those bad stats. Guy is a champ on the PK.

Its because these stats dont mean anything. At least in the context that if you cant evaluate with your eyes first then apply them after. It allows people that have no idea what they are watching to think they have a clue.

A Isles fan post about Connor Brown, that came after he called Brown as an "average middle 6 winger" (like when he was in Toronto)

"Lets compare Connor Brown and Oliver Wahlstrom this season

All stats from Evolving Hockey

EVO (EVEN STRENGTH OFFENSE)
Wahlstrom: 3
Brown: 2.5

Goals above replacement:
Wahlstrom: 4.9
Brown: 2.8

Wins above replacement:
Wahlstrom: 0.9
Brown: 0.5

SPAR (Standing points above replacement)
Wahlstrom: 1.6
Brown: 1

It's not even close. Wahlstrom doesn't PK but Brown has been one of the worst Pkers in the the league this season by every metric. Wahlstrom is already significanty better than Brown"


So are we overrating Connor Brown? Is he really that bad? I mean "one of the worst PKers" and not even as good as a player who doesn't produce at 0.5 PPG while having one of the highest PP TOI/GP on his team?

So what is it?

He is obviously a good player. Advanced stats have ruined the discussion on this board. They are all so easily manipulated. There is someone actually trying to argue that Carolina is worse with Aho.

 

[PlayersLtd]

Sens can easily afford to keep Brown at 5 x5, Zub at 5x5 and Paul at 3x4

I don't see it by the time second contracts are handed out to Stu, Sanderson, Formenton, Thomson, Pinto and Norris and even Greig. Maybe the numbers in my other post are off but I think this team with the top flight talent it has (Chabot, Norris, Bath, Stu, Brady, Sanderson, Zub, Pinto...) needs to be quite frugal with everyone else. A lot can change and sometimes the best move is to sign a talent like Brown and deal with the consequences of having too many prospects emerging later. But I don't love the idea of having a $5.0M + Connor Brown hindering our ability to sign, say Ridley Greig, if Greig is emerging as a similar or better type contributor in 2025-26.

I agree that Brown is an important part of this team though, just not sure how important he will be in 3 years when he's firmly entrenched on the 3rd line.

 

[PlayersLtd]

I have to wonder if people are watching the games and seeing what Formenton is doing at 22 and don't think he is a top 6 forward. Now that he is on the pp he looks good there too. So strange.... People are expecting all star team depth. Look who is on elite teams third lines they aren't 50 and 60 point scorers.

I see Formenton in the top 6 and that is a massive development for the team. With every game it looks more and more like he isn't just a good supporting player in that role but he may actually be able to drive offence and carry a line on his own. That is so big for the future of this team.

And yeah, people tend to hold their own team to a higher standard than others. A 40 point player is just fine on the third line. Even the second line realistically can have sub 60 point players. That said, we have a bounty of riches and I would expect our depth will look like Tampa Bay's where we have offensive contributors up and down the lineup and our top 2 lines are interchangeable on any given night.

 

[Erik Alfredsson]

We've had something like a 90%+ PK% the last 20 or so games and climbed to 14th in the league.

How the hell Brown have those bad stats. Guy is a champ on the PK.

I would argue Brown is our best PKer. It's either him or Paul. So this idea that he's one of the worst PKers in the league is pretty laughable. Guy has tremendous hockey IQ and works his ass off whenever he's on the ice.

 

[GCK]

A Isles fan post about Connor Brown, that came after he called Brown as an "average middle 6 winger" (like when he was in Toronto)

"Lets compare Connor Brown and Oliver Wahlstrom this season

All stats from Evolving Hockey

EVO (EVEN STRENGTH OFFENSE)
Wahlstrom: 3
Brown: 2.5

Goals above replacement:
Wahlstrom: 4.9
Brown: 2.8

Wins above replacement:
Wahlstrom: 0.9
Brown: 0.5

SPAR (Standing points above replacement)
Wahlstrom: 1.6
Brown: 1

It's not even close. Wahlstrom doesn't PK but Brown has been one of the worst Pkers in the the league this season by every metric. Wahlstrom is already significanty better than Brown"


So are we overrating Connor Brown? Is he really that bad? I mean "one of the worst PKers" and not even as good as a player who doesn't produce at 0.5 PPG while having one of the highest PP TOI/GP on his team?

So what is it?

Watch the player in games and evaluate then look at the analytics, if the evaluations are completely different re watch the player with the analytical info in mind and see if it changes your evaluation. Advanced stats should be used to remove bias in your eye test.

 

[JD1]

I have to wonder if people are watching the games and seeing what Formenton is doing at 22 and don't think he is a top 6 forward. Now that he is on the pp he looks good there too. So strange.... People are expecting all star team depth. Look who is on elite teams third lines they aren't 50 and 60 point scorers.


I'd pay him 5 yeah. He is good both ways, the sens mantra isn't going to be to outskill teams. It's players that work hard, out compete and have skill to boot. Everyone wants a Fiala when they watch the highlites then they watch the games and realize he stinks away from the puck and lacks compete. The sens need some good players on ELC'S. Like it or not this teams top 8 is going to be comprised of

Stutzle, Tkachuk, Formenton, Batherson, Brown, Norris, Pinto and whoever they draft this year + Greig/Boucher/Jarventi/Sokolov. They aren't spending to the cap. Not with this owner. Ottawa is not a destination. If they have good players they gotta hang on to them.

There's only so many long term deals you can do

Tkachuk Chabot Batherson locked up.

Norris and Timmy going to get locked up

Sanderson if what we think he is, will get locked up

And we've got the White deal

That might result in limited opportunities to lock anyone else up. We might end up having to cap manage via bridge deals to lower AAV

 

[GCK]

There's only so many long term deals you can do

Tkachuk Chabot Batherson locked up.

Norris and Timmy going to get locked up

Sanderson if what we think he is, will get locked up

And we've got the White deal

That might result in limited opportunities to lock anyone else up. We might end up having to cap manage via bridge deals to lower AAV

I think you can give term to guys like Formenton as well. Get in early and have a lower AAV on the back end.

 

[Xspyrit]

I don't see it by the time second contracts are handed out to Stu, Sanderson, Formenton, Thomson, Pinto and Norris and even Greig. Maybe the numbers in my other post are off but I think this team with the top flight talent it has (Chabot, Norris, Bath, Stu, Brady, Sanderson, Zub, Pinto...) needs to be quite frugal with everyone else. A lot can change and sometimes the best move is to sign a talent like Brown and deal with the consequences of having too many prospects emerging later. But I don't love the idea of having a $5.0M + Connor Brown hindering our ability to sign, say Ridley Greig, if Greig is emerging as a similar or better type contributor in 2025-26.

I agree that Brown is an important part of this team though, just not sure how important he will be in 3 years when he's firmly entrenched on the 3rd line.

2025-26 is very far for the NHL. I tried to make a roster on Cap Friendly, here's what it looks like (keep in mind it's a bit messy because CF doesn't allow to do this further than 2023-24) :

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
Tkachuk, Brady $8,205,714 LW, C UFA - 5	Norris, Joshua $7,000,000 C RFA	Batherson, Drake $4,975,000 RW UFA - 4
Greig, Ridly $894,167 LW RFA - 1	Stützle, Tim $8,000,000 LW, C RFA	Formenton, Alex $5,000,000 LW RFA
Paul, Nicholas $3,000,000 C, LW UFA	Pinto, Shane $5,000,000 C RFA	Brown, Connor $5,000,000 LW, RW UFA
Crookshank, Angus $838,333 LW RFA - 1	Kastelic, Mark $1,500,000 C RFA	Sokolov, Egor $1,500,000 LW RFA
Boucher, Tyler $925,000 RW RFA - 1

[THEAD] [/THEAD]
[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Left Defense	Right Defense	Goaltender
Chabot, Thomas $8,000,000 LD UFA - 5	Zub, Artem $5,000,000 RD UFA	Søgaard, Mads $925,000 G RFA - 1
Sanderson, Jake $8,000,000	Bernard-Docker, Jacob $1,500,000 RD RFA	Gustavsson, Filip $1,500,000 G RFA
Brännström, Erik $1,500,000 RD RFA	Thomson, Lassi $863,333 RD RFA - 1
Kleven, Tyler $1,500,000

[THEAD] [/THEAD]
[TBODY] [/TBODY]

That lineup is about 80 M$. Will Forms, Sandy and Stu make that much for a long term contract as soon as their ELC is up? I gave up generous offers in general. Norris might cost a bit more than 7.0 but Kastelic/Sokolov/Kleven/etc might not. I tried to balance it all. We don't know at this point in time how much these guys will cost in 4 years. We need our GM to pull a few "Bathersons" and not only "Tkachuks"

I understand your point for Greig, for example. He becomes RFA in 2024-25 so the question is how much will he cost by then?

The reality is we won't be able to go 8 years on all the young guys, some bridges might be necessary. Also, you don't go 7-8 years with Zub, Brown and Paul, but more like 3-5 years depending. You always need some contracts expiring along the way, which is how your cap stays "manageable"

But one thing for sure, we'll have to :

- Spend to cap (which will probably start rising again by then)
- Learn to play with the cap, something we haven't done since almost the beginning of the cap era.

Also, don't forget that you always have the possibility to trade a player for a cheaper player and/or futures. It's a GOOD problem to have. And unfortunately, there's always some injuries and LTIR situations that change the plans so we'll see but I would not worry about the Sens being over the cap. I would instead worry about the owner WANTING to spend to the cap and/or the GM screwing up on some contracts

 

[Alex1234]

2025-26 is very far for the NHL. I tried to make a roster on Cap Friendly, here's what it looks like (keep in mind it's a bit messy because CF doesn't allow to do this further than 2023-24) :

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
Tkachuk, Brady $8,205,714 LW, C UFA - 5	Norris, Joshua $7,000,000 C RFA	Batherson, Drake $4,975,000 RW UFA - 4
Greig, Ridly $894,167 LW RFA - 1	Stützle, Tim $8,000,000 LW, C RFA	Formenton, Alex $5,000,000 LW RFA
Paul, Nicholas $3,000,000 C, LW UFA	Pinto, Shane $5,000,000 C RFA	Brown, Connor $5,000,000 LW, RW UFA
Crookshank, Angus $838,333 LW RFA - 1	Kastelic, Mark $1,500,000 C RFA	Sokolov, Egor $1,500,000 LW RFA
Boucher, Tyler $925,000 RW RFA - 1

[THEAD] [/THEAD]
[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Left Defense	Right Defense	Goaltender
Chabot, Thomas $8,000,000 LD UFA - 5	Zub, Artem $5,000,000 RD UFA	Søgaard, Mads $925,000 G RFA - 1
Sanderson, Jake $8,000,000	Bernard-Docker, Jacob $1,500,000 RD RFA	Gustavsson, Filip $1,500,000 G RFA
Brännström, Erik $1,500,000 RD RFA	Thomson, Lassi $863,333 RD RFA - 1
Kleven, Tyler $1,500,000

[THEAD] [/THEAD]
[TBODY] [/TBODY]

That lineup is about 80 M$. Will Forms, Sandy and Stu make that much for a long term contract as soon as their ELC is up? I gave up generous offers in general. Norris might cost a bit more than 7.0 but Kastelic/Sokolov/Kleven/etc might not. I tried to balance it all. We don't know at this point in time how much these guys will cost in 4 years. We need our GM to pull a few "Bathersons" and not only "Tkachuks"

I understand your point for Greig, for example. He becomes RFA in 2024-25 so the question is how much will he cost by then?

The reality is we won't be able to go 8 years on all the young guys, some bridges might be necessary. Also, you don't go 7-8 years with Zub, Brown and Paul, but more like 3-5 years depending. You always need some contracts expiring along the way, which is how your cap stays "manageable"

But one thing for sure, we'll have to :

- Spend to cap (which will probably start rising again by then)
- Learn to play with the cap, something we haven't done since almost the beginning of the cap era.

Also, don't forget that you always have the possibility to trade a player for a cheaper player and/or futures. It's a GOOD problem to have. And unfortunately, there's always some injuries and LTIR situations that change the plans so we'll see but I would not worry about the Sens being over the cap. I would instead worry about the owner WANTING to spend to the cap and/or the GM screwing up on some contracts

Goalie department looks underpaid to me

 

[Xspyrit]

Goalie department looks underpaid to me

For sure but Sogaard will still be on his ELC, and I don't think Gustavsson will have the leverage yet to be much more expensive

This was a very rough exercise. You can try to project this lineup with more precise amounts if you want. I could do it myself if you want.

 

[PlayersLtd]

2025-26 is very far for the NHL. I tried to make a roster on Cap Friendly, here's what it looks like (keep in mind it's a bit messy because CF doesn't allow to do this further than 2023-24) :

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
Tkachuk, Brady $8,205,714 LW, C UFA - 5	Norris, Joshua $7,000,000 C RFA	Batherson, Drake $4,975,000 RW UFA - 4
Greig, Ridly $894,167 LW RFA - 1	Stützle, Tim $8,000,000 LW, C RFA	Formenton, Alex $5,000,000 LW RFA
Paul, Nicholas $3,000,000 C, LW UFA	Pinto, Shane $5,000,000 C RFA	Brown, Connor $5,000,000 LW, RW UFA
Crookshank, Angus $838,333 LW RFA - 1	Kastelic, Mark $1,500,000 C RFA	Sokolov, Egor $1,500,000 LW RFA
Boucher, Tyler $925,000 RW RFA - 1

[THEAD] [/THEAD]
[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Left Defense	Right Defense	Goaltender
Chabot, Thomas $8,000,000 LD UFA - 5	Zub, Artem $5,000,000 RD UFA	Søgaard, Mads $925,000 G RFA - 1
Sanderson, Jake $8,000,000	Bernard-Docker, Jacob $1,500,000 RD RFA	Gustavsson, Filip $1,500,000 G RFA
Brännström, Erik $1,500,000 RD RFA	Thomson, Lassi $863,333 RD RFA - 1
Kleven, Tyler $1,500,000

[THEAD] [/THEAD]
[TBODY] [/TBODY]

That lineup is about 80 M$. Will Forms, Sandy and Stu make that much for a long term contract as soon as their ELC is up? I gave up generous offers in general. Norris might cost a bit more than 7.0 but Kastelic/Sokolov/Kleven/etc might not. I tried to balance it all. We don't know at this point in time how much these guys will cost in 4 years. We need our GM to pull a few "Bathersons" and not only "Tkachuks"

I understand your point for Greig, for example. He becomes RFA in 2024-25 so the question is how much will he cost by then?

The reality is we won't be able to go 8 years on all the young guys, some bridges might be necessary. Also, you don't go 7-8 years with Zub, Brown and Paul, but more like 3-5 years depending. You always need some contracts expiring along the way, which is how your cap stays "manageable"

But one thing for sure, we'll have to :

- Spend to cap (which will probably start rising again by then)
- Learn to play with the cap, something we haven't done since almost the beginning of the cap era.

Also, don't forget that you always have the possibility to trade a player for a cheaper player and/or futures. It's a GOOD problem to have. And unfortunately, there's always some injuries and LTIR situations that change the plans so we'll see but I would not worry about the Sens being over the cap. I would instead worry about the owner WANTING to spend to the cap and/or the GM screwing up on some contracts

Agreed. You've been pretty fair (high) with the key players, it's the younger guys that could easily add 5M+ to that and put significant upward pressure on our cap. I have Lassi and Greig making almost $4.5M more than you do, assuming both are off their ELC, which at least Lassi is guaranteed to be. Then there is Gus and Brann which I think you have low but then again you have Kleven off his ELC which he won't be...

The big difference between what I anticipate and yours is retaining flexibility to add to the top 6 through FA which is why I would be very careful about what we pay Brown and Paul. I'd be more inclined to add $1M-2M to Brown's anticipated $5M deal and bring in a player such as Hertl and replace Brown's future 3rd line spot internally. Essentially, I think we need to be careful what we pay our third line so that our top two lines can legitimately be the class of the league.

Anyway, no sense picking it apart as it's impossible to anticipate at this point but one thing is sure, every $500k we can shave off during negotiations with guys like Paul, Formenton, Norris, Pinto will be very valuable in the future, potentially the difference between being priced out on someone like Greig down the road.

 

[Alex1234]

For sure but Sogaard will still be on his ELC, and I don't think Gustavsson will have the leverage yet to be much more expensive

This was a very rough exercise. You can try to project this lineup with more precise amounts if you want. I could do it myself if you want.

No no thanks for that
Just wanted to point out it is rare to see a competing team with as less as that in terms of money spent on G

 

[Xspyrit]

Agreed. You've been pretty fair (high) with the key players, it's the younger guys that could easily add 5M+ to that and put significant upward pressure on our cap. I have Lassi and Greig making almost $4.5M more than you do, assuming both are off their ELC, which at least Lassi is guaranteed to be. Then there is Gus and Brann which I think you have low but then again you have Kleven off his ELC which he won't be...

The big difference between what I anticipate and yours is retaining flexibility to add to the top 6 through FA which is why I would be very careful about what we pay Brown and Paul. I'd be more inclined to add $1M-2M to Brown's anticipated $5M deal and bring in a player such as Hertl and replace Brown's future 3rd line spot internally. Essentially, I think we need to be careful what we pay our third line so that our top two lines can legitimately be the class of the league.

Anyway, no sense picking it apart as it's impossible to anticipate at this point but one thing is sure, every $500k we can shave off during negotiations with guys like Paul, Formenton, Norris, Pinto will be very valuable in the future, potentially the difference between being priced out on someone like Greig down the road.

Ok but I am not predicting anything here. Like I have tried to explain, this was a rough estimate as it's impossible to predict what most of these guys will be worth in 4 years (as you also said)

Try to see more like it could be more or less $500k for each

Josh Norris : 6.5 to 7.5 long term
Alex Formenton : 4.5 to 5.5 long term
Tim Stutzle : 7.5 to 8.5 long term
Shane Pinto : 4.5 to 5.5 long term
Jake Sanderson : 7.5 to 8.5 long term
Kastelic/Sokolov/Gustavsson/Thomson/Brannstrom/Kleven : 1.0 to 2.0 bridges/RFA years

Like also hinted, I was more trying to achieve an overall balance than predict correctly each player 4 years down the road

So yeah, Brannstrom might make more but IMO will most likely be traded by then... That's why I didn't allow bigger dollars on him. Thomson could be worth more, but as you hinted, Kleven will cost less, Kastelic and others too. Again, think about the overall cost

I agree Greig could already be costly after his ELC. We'll see

Finally, of course, if we are able to add legit top-6 forward or a legit top-4 D-man, then I'm totally ready to do things differently here... but I'm not banking on us acquiring a guy like Hertl for example

 

[Xspyrit]

Another poster on that other site calling Connor Brown a "Middle six winger"

I tried to change his mind with a bunch of facts :

Some facts (that I routinely just copy/paste) :

Brown has scored 100 pts (43 goals) in 156 games with Ottawa, 0.64 PPG, 53 pts per 82 games. Only 97 NHL forwards have produced more points since 2019-20. Over that period, that's a similar production to Martin Necas, William Karlsson, Pierre-Luc Dubois... So right away, this is not "average production", it's excellent 2nd line production.

But that's the thing, his role is not that of top-6 forward. He doesn't get PP time like a top-6 forward, he is not deployed in the offensive zone to provide offense. He doesn't only play with other top-6 forwards. His main linemate, Nick Paul, is clearly not one. What is confusing is that due to a lack of depth as a rebuilding team and with injuries, he had to fill holes on the wing a bit all over the lineup and since he's the coach favorite player, he is used in a lot of situations.

Another very strong indicator, 78% of his production is at Even Strength and 9% on the PK, only 13% on the PP. In comparison, an elite player like McDavid scores 40% of his production on the PP. For most top-6 forwards 20-30% of their production comes from the PP

Connor Brown also faces the other team top forwards on a consistent basis, he is the most utilized forward on the PK in the whole league. He was 2nd in takeaways last season (behind only THE king Mark Stone) and was voted 17th for the Selke

This was the reply I got :

This is a lot of words but what you just described is a middle six forward