45. Connor Brown - F - Erie Otters
Brown put up a ton of points this year and was really one of Erie's only bright spots offensively. Yet, I found myself having a tough time getting a read on him. There were a couple of things I noticed though. For one, his skating needs to improve. It seemed like he lacked that overall explosiveness in his game. Secondly, as you can assume with a -72 rating, his play away from the puck needs improving. I found him to be too prone to standing around watching things unfold. Which is interesting considering his brother was former Spitfire and General Jeff Brown, who was probably the exact opposite as a player. What Brown does possess is offensive skill. He's kind of one of those guys who you don't really notice until he jumps on a loose puck and puts one in the back of the net. This definitely points to his hockey sense being a strength. Playing in his first year in the league, what he did offensively was quite impressive. Everything else about his game is very raw, but with good coaching and dedication away from the rink on strength training, could make him a very interesting gamble.
2. Whom in the NHL do you watch closely and think, "I need to play like him to get to The Show" or "I see what he did there, I need to do that?"
"Definitely a guy like [Philadelphia Flyers centre] Claude Giroux. Obviously, he's on another level from me right now. I like to model after [Chicago Blackhawks star] Patrick Kane. We're both similar sizes. I like to model my game after them but I also have to be more defensive-minded, because obviously those guys are ridiculous offensively."
Why does it seem like all of the Erie Otters need to work on their skating? and defence?
they need to work on everything period really.
He should, seems like a crazy guy for sure, been making waves insanely.Yeah they don't look like a very good squad. Hopefully McDavid can help them out.
Hopefully Erie either improves or ships Brown to a better team; it'd be nice to see what the kid could do on a good team.
Anyways, he seems like a good pick for the 5th round.
Another GTHL kid.
His father Dan is a better coach than a recruiter, and that's meant as a compliment because a lot of GTHL coaches are recruiters, poaching players rather than developing players. I'm not saying that Connor played AAA because his father coached the team as Connor was a AAA player, but just not an elite one.
I think he'll be a good minor pro, he knows what to do, especially when surrounded with better, more skilled players.
My take is you can't coach speed or skill and this kid has neither of the high end elite like stuff, but he's no quitter and he'll compete giving all he's got, every shift.
I hope Connor proves me wrong.
Isn't Connor Brown the guy who went in for the team when they had no goalie? If it is hes going to be a great teammate
Im more than satisfied with this selection. A year or two with Connor McDavid will be fantastic for his development. He produced well without any other premiere offensive player. I saw him play a while back when watching Mckegg play the Guelph Storm. To be completely honest, i didn't notice him at all. I had taken note in him as a prospect. I was checking up on Erie's season in review and im pretty sure Brown was named their top rookie.