Former Toronto Maple Leafs Absolutely Crazy Journey from Dud to Hero

If you had of told this Toronto Maple Leafs fan that one day in the near future Connor Brown, Cody Ceci and Zach Hyman were going to be playing in the Stanley Cup Finals, I would have been pretty excited.

I just wouldn’t have thought it would be with the Edmonton Oilers, and not the Toronto Maple Leafs.

As the Oilers try make a historic Stanley Cup comeback, it is both wonderful and depressing to see all the ex-Leafs having so much success.

Obviously it would be nice if it was with the Leafs, but we still cheer for those guys and it’s nice to see them do well. But the season of Connor Brown deserves some extra attention.

Drafted in the sixth round of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, Connor Brown was a rookie at the same time as Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner. (stats naturalstattrick.com).

It was hoped he would be part of a young nucleolus that could grow together, but instead he was part of the cost to get out of a disastrous Nikita Zaitsev contract (ironically for Cody Ceci).

Lou Lamoriello’s disastrous turn as the Leafs GM continues to haunt the Leafs to this day. Signing Zaitsev to a seven-year deal was one of the worst moves of the Brendan Shanahan Era and it cost the Leafs Connor Brown who scored 20 goals as a rookie and once scored 21 goals in 56 games with the Ottawa Senators.

His speed and bottom-six scoring could have been just what the Leafs needed.

Fast forward to it not working out in Ottawa and then a quick move to the Capitals before signing a seemingly super-cheap 750K contract with the Oilers last summer.

Only one problem: that dirt cheap deal came with a signing Bonus that made the cap-hit $4 million dollars, which is a ridiculous cap-hit for a guy who scored four goals in his last 75 games.

The bonus was based on Brown playing 10 games, and he played 71.

Brown didn’t score, but his on-ice numbers were above 50% in everything. He provides amazing value for a league minimum contract, not so much for $4 million.

In the playoffs this year, he’s a 40% XG player, which is awful. He does two goals and six points in 17 games so far.

But who cares? Last night he made up for the bad play and next year’s bad cap hit penalty that he’ll cost the Oilers by scoring the opening goal in game 5 to ultimately help keep his team alive.

It was a fantastic moment for a player who’s career we’ve enjoyed following. The journey has been a bit crazy, but for one night at least, Brown’s career exceeded all expectations as he went from cap problem to Stanley Cup hero.