EDMONTON — Connor Brown returned to practice for the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday and will be available for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Florida Panthers at Rogers Place on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET; CBC, TVAS, SN, TNT, truTV, MAX).
The forward sustained an undisclosed injury and missed the final two games of the Western Conference Final against the Dallas Stars after taking a hit along the boards from defenseman Alexander Petrovic in the second period of Game 3 on May 25.
Brown has eight points (five goals, three assists) in 14 games this postseason.
Edmonton went on to eliminate Dallas with a 6-3 win in Game 5 on Thursday to reach the Cup Final for the second straight year against the Panthers, who defeated the Oilers in seven games last season.
Players were off Saturday before Brown resumed practicing with the Oilers on Sunday.
“I feel good,” Brown said. “Nice to get a practice in with the team. Obviously, I haven’t been practicing much. It’s nice to get it going. I’m excited.”
In Brown’s absence, Viktor Arvidsson played in his spot at right wing on the third line with center Adam Henrique and left wing Evander Kane.
Whether Brown will end up slotting back in there or somewhere else in the lineup remains to be seen, considering how much coach Kris Knoblauch has adjusted his lines throughout the postseason.
With forward Zach Hyman out for the rest of the playoffs after undergoing surgery for an upper-body injury he sustained in Game 4 against the Stars, it is likely Brown will be elevated to a top-six role.
“I’ve got no idea what the line combinations are,” said Brown, who was wearing a grey practice jersey denoting the fifth line Sunday. “Obviously, I’m not trying to put my coaching hat on or anything like that. It’s just my job to be ready to go.
“The beauty about this team is I think we’re so deep. Any type of combination that you find yourself on, it can be productive. So, I’m just worrying about myself, making sure I’m at my best.”
It’s already much better than two years ago, when he signed with the Oilers as a free agent following a shortened 2022-23 season with the Washington Capitals, which lasted four games before surgery was needed to repair a torn ACL.
He had 12 points (four goals, eight assists) in 71 games during his first season with the Oilers before starting to come into his own in last year’s playoffs. He caught traction playing with Henrique and Mattias Janmark, and the three came up with crucial goals in the Final against Florida.
Janmark and Brown each scored short-handed, and Henrique had two goals to help spark the comeback from a 3-0 series deficit to force Game 7, where Janmark came up with Edmonton’s lone goal in the 2-1 loss.
In total, Brown had six points (two goals, four assists) in 19 playoff games last season. He followed that up by getting 30 points (13 goals, 17 assists) in 82 regular-season games this year.
“I guess maybe a little more confidence having a longer runway,” Brown said of the difference from last year. “Obviously, I felt like there were only a few months of kind of getting back to my game before getting to the finals last year. So, I feel good.
“Last year when we punched our ticket, there were only a few guys who had been there before, so it felt like when we were going to the Stanley Cup Final there was that big shock factor. And this year, we understood what it took given our experience last year. So, we kind of just followed the blueprint, stuck to the process and believed that we were going to get the results we wanted and we’re going to continue to do that.”
Not that it was a foregone conclusion they’d make it back to the Cup Final again this year, especially after losing the opening two games of the first round against the Los Angeles Kings.
But they have since come together and turned things around, winning 12 of their past 14 to return to hockey’s grandest stage for the second year in a row.
And Brown will be ready to go once it all gets underway.
“I think he will be fine,” Knoblauch said. “Obviously, you saw him on the ice and double shifting, and I’m pretty sure and confident that he will be fine for Game 1.”
