NHL Free Agency: RW Connor Brown Signs New Deal With New Jersey Devils

NHL free agency is off and running on July 1. Within the first couple hours of the free agency window opening, two-time Western Conference champion right wing Connor Brown agreed to a new deal that will bring him to an American team for just the second time in his NHL career.

The Athletic's Peter Baugh reported Tuesday that Brown signed a four-year contract with a $3 million cap hit with the New Jersey Devils.

Presumably, Brown's contract has a total value of $12 million, but Baugh didn't specify.

The 31-year-old Toronto, Ontario native will head to New Jersey after a significant bounce back fantasy season in 2024-25. During 82 games with the Oilers last season, Brown scored 13 goals with 30 points, a plus-9 rating and 123 shots on net. He then tallied five goals and nine points in 20 playoff games.

Connor Brown Signs Deal With New Jersey Devils at Beginning of NHL Free Agency

Brown is entering his 11th NHL season. Of his previous 10 campaigns, nine of them were spent with Canadian teams -- the Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators and Oilers. Brown's lone season with an American team came with the Washington Capitals in 2022-23, and he only played four games for Washington before suffering an ACL tear that ruled him out for the season.

That injury likely contributed to his subpar 2023-24 statistics. But Brown bounced back in a significant way during his second season with Edmonton.

If the stars perfectly align in New Jersey, Brown has the upside to score 15-20 goals. He reached 20 or more goals in 2016-17 with the Maple Leafs and 2020-21 with the Senators.

But more than likely, Brown will hover around the 10-goal mark again. His 10.6% shooting percentage last season was right in line with where he's been in that category during his career. When Brown experienced his 20-goal campaigns, he may have had significant good luck with higher than normal shooting percentages.

In 2019-20 with the Senators, Brown scored 16 goals with a 9.2% shooting percentage, but he had a career-high 173 shots on net. The right wing has averaged 137 shots on goal in an 82-game regular season during his career.

It wouldn't be surprising if some of Brown's percentage dip a little in 2025-26. He could have benefitted last season from playing for the star-studded Oilers (a hole in that argument is that didn't help Brown at all in 2023-24).

For the Devils, Brown will be an invaluable piece to the lineup next season. He can play on any line and is a very good penalty killer. Unfortunately, fantasy hockey players don't get points for killing penalties unless they score short-handed goals. Versatility doesn't directly lead to fantasy production either.

Brown will provide quite a bit in New Jersey for only $3 million per season. For fantasy managers, though, he will really just supply depth goal scoring, making him only relevant in deeper leagues.

In 601 career NHL games, Brown has posted 107 goals and 258 points with a minus-10 rating. He also has 1,004 shots on net, 110 penalty minutes and 30 power-play points.