Connor Brown is gone from Edmonton, and some Oilers fans still haven't made peace with it heading into a new season.
Kevin McCurdy said it out loud on Wednesday. Of every move the Oilers made, letting this guy walk is the one that bothers him most.
His reasoning is simple. The winger rehabbed his knee in Edmonton and was just starting to cook when the club let him go.
McCurdy even conceded the contract was too big to swallow. Then he added the part that stings: Mangiapane was a dud, and hindsight is cruel.
His post reads like one long exhale from a fan who watched the numbers roll in all winter, no hedging and no hashtags.
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And he's right. Letting Brown go was a bad call, the kind you make when the spreadsheet matters more than the guy who already paid his dues in your room.
Stan Bowman let him walk, and New Jersey cashed in
The first Edmonton season was rough. Brown managed four goals and 12 points across 71 games, going minus-8.
Then year two happened. In 2024-25, the right winger jumped to 13 goals and 30 points with a +9 rating.
He kept going in the spring, with five goals and nine points over 20 playoff games.
Stan Bowman ran the front office through all of it. He was hired in July 2024, before the rebound even started.
It's like paying for a brand-new transmission and then selling the car the week it finally runs right. Somebody else gets the smooth ride.
New Jersey got it. Brown piled up 18 goals in 75 games with the Devils last season.
His 43 points tied the best total of his career, matching his 2019-20 season in Ottawa.
Not bad for a sixth-round pick. Toronto took him 156th overall in 2012, and he's now at 301 career points over 676 games.
Was the money really the problem? Maybe. But the Oilers moved on, and McCurdy's one-word review of the alternative was dud.
Mike Babcock, hired in June, is running his first Edmonton camp. His Oilers won 2-1 in Winnipeg last night and head to Vancouver on Thursday.
He'll need depth scoring from somewhere this winter. And every quiet night from the wingers is going to send fans right back to Brown's stat line.
Was letting Connor Brown walk the worst move of the Stan Bowman era in Edmonton?
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