I cannot think of any ELCs that can replace Conner Brown on the third line (consistently matching up against the other teams top line) and the number 1 Penalty Killing Unit. I do not consider Brown an elite defensive forward, but I also don't think he is greatly overpaid. Toronto is approaching a cap issue next year, and a number of Leaf players salaries will be part of the problem (including Brown, Zaitsev, Marleau). When Brown was a RFA I had hoped his salary would come in at $1.8M or less. I still think that would be appropriate. Surprised Lou overpaid slightly. The original post I replied to was around "Brown is a good NHL player". That was what I was commenting on. I will agree that he may be slightly over-paid (not a 100% on that). I do get tired of reading a lot of past posts about Brown being an issue. I believe he fills a role on the team very well.
One of my favorite Marlies is Grundstrom and I see him filling a similar role as Brown next year, but not this year. I don't see any Marlie replacing Brown this year. Brown may become a Cap casualty because of the teams overall cap issues, but I still think of him as a "good NHL player". Brown may be replaced in the near future by a player who will fit under the cap better but who may not contribute as much to the team success as Brown currently does. If we disagree I respect that.