I could see the Oiler being interested in Brown, not sure what the value is there but I think it could work.

Zero logic to Ottawa moving Connor Brown for a late 1st unless it's to avoid being over the cap, which they are not.

Extend Connor Brown instead of trading him. The goal is to compete, not continue rebuilding

Dorion has had well enough time, and had a pretty good pool when the rebuild started plus PRIME assets to trade. Hard to have an easier SETUP for a rebuild. It's been 5 years now, no more EXCUSES

I think now is the time to move on from CBrown. He will never have a higher value, and this is likely his peak performance. Extending CBrown would be akin to TOR trying to extend Hyman. He isnt part of the core, and his next contract will be too much to fit into the team.

Next year will be CBrowns age 29 season. He is going to be turning 30, and wanting his last big contract. OTT wont be able to keep him and all of the integral pieces.

Trading CBrown now, is the right move for the long term success of the francise. Take that nearly 4M and use it to get a top4 RHD or a more age appropriate middle6 W

ok but moves like this makes it more likely that the perpetual Dorion rebuild continues.

Connor Brown rarely get injured, barely misses any games, is a top notch skater and has a flawless work ethic. He has several good years left (ideally I would extend him 4 years which would bring him to 34 when his contract is over. He turned 28 a few days ago

He's a very very hard to replace 2-way winger., particularly at RW which is the weakest position in the whole organization

Im in the crowd that you rebuild until youve got a chance. Wasting time not taking assets for bad cap (thanks melnyk), and blowing draft picks on major reaches means that you dont get to rebuild quickly.

Hes hard to replace, but not impossible, and imho the difficulty in replacing him is offset by the returns he would net us.

It's ok if you have this opinion but from my experience, moves like this is exactly why some teams seem to be in a perpetual rebuild or in spinning wheels mode, not able to take another step into contention. Having guys like Formenton, Brown, Pageau, Danault on your 3rd line is how you build a winner. Recycling players that just arrived at maturity for futures forces you to rebuild longer or stay mediocre/bad

So what happens to Chabot and Batherson in 4-5 years when they'll be near 30 y/o? Trade them for futures? Ok so how many Cups will the Sens win during the next 4 seasons? The answer is most likely ZERO

That's how you never end up winning.

Edit : and replace Brown is maybe possible but if you successfully do, great but you're still a bottom-5 team if all the other things stay equal. The thing is we need to improve this roster A LOT. Trading Connor Brown for a 1st round pick and a 2nd (for example) doesn't guarantee that at all, maybe in 4 years down the road? Ok but other players will "age" by then and will be Connor's age... So what do we do?

Do you start seeing what I see?

In that particular setting. What do we do with Chabot and Batherson?

Well, if theyre pending UFA and were still at the bottom of the league it would be foolish to not consider trading them.

I wouldnt be suggesting trading CBrown if we were anywhere near a playoff spot... but were not. Having them on your 3rd line is how you build a winner, yeah, if you have the pieces to force them into the 3rd line. We dont. We dont have the pieces to use Brown in the way he should be used. Its time to move on. If we were 2 years further into our rebuild, it would make sense keeping him.

If we're still at the bottom of the league in 4-5 years, then yes you trade them but it would also mean another full rebuild would be underway. Rebuild the rebuild ala Sabres

If we really want to stop being a bottom feeder in a near future, we need to ADD more Connor Browns, not subtract them. The MAIN problem for this team is that the young core has almost no quality veteran support... I find it pretty obvious

A late 1st and a 2nd is great to get if you're rebuilding but that's the thing : how many years do we WANT/NEED to rebuild?

A team of 12 CBrowns doesnt win the cup. He is a role player, and were not the in the position to utilize that role player in that role.

The 1st+2nd could be used as a part of a package to bring in elite talent, or used to keep our competitive window open longer.

When the core pieces are all making their big "This is our competitive window" money (Stu/Norris/Sanderson/Brannstrom added to Chabot/Batheron/Tkachuk) on their big contracts, OTT is going to *need* players who are capable, on ELC contracts. Were not going to want an aging, overpaid 30+ CBrown.

This is the exact same arguments that people gave for keeping Pageau. No. Id rather have Ridley on ELC than be overpaying Pageau

Of course, if we have a GM capable of using these pieces to acquire a Stone/Pacioretty/Eichel... then OK of course now I am all for trading Connor! I just don't see it with Ottawa/Dorion though

And yeah having Greig starting to help your team in 2023 while on his ELC is great, but the last 5-6 years without Pageau, you were one of the worse teams in the league... I'm not saying Pageau makes all the difference but it's part of the recipe, if you subtract too many good players, you end up like Ottawa

All that being said, QUALITY VETERAN SUPPORT.

Our quality in the lineup are almost all 25 y/o and less (and many are 22 y/o and less). These young guys need HELP/SUPPORT and to have shared responsibilities/pressure. It's extremely stupid and irresponsible to throw them to the wolves. Look at Norris in OT vs Washington for example. A 22 y/o 2nd year guy shouldn't have the responsibility to play in OT against the best goal scorer in history and his own playmaker.