<p>EDMONTON — Oh, to be a fly on the wall in Ristorante Sotto Sotto one night last summer in downtown Toronto as Connor McDavid made his sales pitch to in-demand free agent and his former junior teammate Connor Brown to join the Edmonton Oilers.</p>



<p>Brown confirmed there wasn’t much salesmanship required, more like a Godfather moment with the don of the hockey world making offer he couldn’t refuse.</p>



<p>“He laid out his plans and how he saw me,” Brown said. “It was right then and there, became pretty clear to me where my future lays.”</p>



<p>For Brown, it was fitting in some ways that his future was decided over a plate of pasta, since food was just about the only thing Brown had control over last season. Four games into his tenure with the Washington Capitals last October, Brown blew out his ACL when his leg twisted under him during an awkward spill into the boards after a mostly routine hit from Vancouver Canucks defenseman Noah Juulsen.</p><div class="injected-ad injected-video" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="0" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="167"></div>



<p>Brown, then 28, underwent surgical repair on Nov. 1 – leaving a player who didn’t miss a single game in his first five full NHL seasons with suddenly a lot of time on his hands.</p>



<p>“To say it wasn’t tough, I’d be lying,” Brown said. “You’re living in a new city, a city you don’t know anything about. Virginia and Washington D.C. are a long way from home for me in terms of what the culture is like. It was a difficult year.”</p>



<p>Unable to play and on the shelf for the remainder of the season, in a contract year no less, Brown needed to fill his days outside of rehab every morning at the Capitals’ suburban Virginia practice facility. His challenge: If I can’t improve on the ice, what is one small way to improve off it? His answer: Diet and nutrition.</p><div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="1" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="143"></div>



<p>“I would watch hockey, crush some Netflix series, take the dog on a ton of walks, and then I meal prepped,” Brown said. “I reinvented my diet, reinvented my training and watched a lot of hockey. I was definitely a solid eater before, but you have a lot of down time. Me and my wife (Madison) were cooking every night, getting inventive with meals. That was kind of our life in Virginia.”</p>



<p>He probably won’t be appearing on an upcoming episode of Top Chef, but he did have a go-to. “A lot of meat and vegetables,” Brown said, laughing. </p>



<p>Brown praised the Capitals’ coaching and training staff for trying to make him feel part of the team. He spent a lot of time with recently retired forward Carl Hagelin, John Carlson and Tom Wilson as they also rehabbed their injuries. But it was entirely new territory for Brown, a year in which you’re paid like an NHL player, but don’t really feel like one.</p><div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="2" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="165"></div>



<p>“There was some dark days,” Brown said. “It’s a mental grind to go through something like that. I knew I was going to do everything I could to get myself back. When I accepted that, it was just a matter of time. But you can’t fight the clock. These things take time.”</p>



<p>And Brown used that time to his advantage, spending more time with Madison as they prepared to welcome their first child, son Nolan, to the world in August.</p>



<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CwbInLhA6cx/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:16px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CwbInLhA6cx/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style=" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> <div style=" display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div></div></div><div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display:block; height:50px; margin:0 auto 12px; width:50px;"><svg width="50px" height="50px" viewBox="0 0 60 60" version="1.1" xmlns="https://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><g stroke="none" stroke-width="1" fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd"><g transform="translate(-511.000000, -20.000000)" fill="#000000"><g><path d="M556.869,30.41 C554.814,30.41 553.148,32.076 553.148,34.131 C553.148,36.186 554.814,37.852 556.869,37.852 C558.924,37.852 560.59,36.186 560.59,34.131 C560.59,32.076 558.924,30.41 556.869,30.41 M541,60.657 C535.114,60.657 530.342,55.887 530.342,50 C530.342,44.114 535.114,39.342 541,39.342 C546.887,39.342 551.658,44.114 551.658,50 C551.658,55.887 546.887,60.657 541,60.657 M541,33.886 C532.1,33.886 524.886,41.1 524.886,50 C524.886,58.899 532.1,66.113 541,66.113 C549.9,66.113 557.115,58.899 557.115,50 C557.115,41.1 549.9,33.886 541,33.886 M565.378,62.101 C565.244,65.022 564.756,66.606 564.346,67.663 C563.803,69.06 563.154,70.057 562.106,71.106 C561.058,72.155 560.06,72.803 558.662,73.347 C557.607,73.757 556.021,74.244 553.102,74.378 C549.944,74.521 548.997,74.552 541,74.552 C533.003,74.552 532.056,74.521 528.898,74.378 C525.979,74.244 524.393,73.757 523.338,73.347 C521.94,72.803 520.942,72.155 519.894,71.106 C518.846,70.057 518.197,69.06 517.654,67.663 C517.244,66.606 516.755,65.022 516.623,62.101 C516.479,58.943 516.448,57.996 516.448,50 C516.448,42.003 516.479,41.056 516.623,37.899 C516.755,34.978 517.244,33.391 517.654,32.338 C518.197,30.938 518.846,29.942 519.894,28.894 C520.942,27.846 521.94,27.196 523.338,26.654 C524.393,26.244 525.979,25.756 528.898,25.623 C532.057,25.479 533.004,25.448 541,25.448 C548.997,25.448 549.943,25.479 553.102,25.623 C556.021,25.756 557.607,26.244 558.662,26.654 C560.06,27.196 561.058,27.846 562.106,28.894 C563.154,29.942 563.803,30.938 564.346,32.338 C564.756,33.391 565.244,34.978 565.378,37.899 C565.522,41.056 565.552,42.003 565.552,50 C565.552,57.996 565.522,58.943 565.378,62.101 M570.82,37.631 C570.674,34.438 570.167,32.258 569.425,30.349 C568.659,28.377 567.633,26.702 565.965,25.035 C564.297,23.368 562.623,22.342 560.652,21.575 C558.743,20.834 556.562,20.326 553.369,20.18 C550.169,20.033 549.148,20 541,20 C532.853,20 531.831,20.033 528.631,20.18 C525.438,20.326 523.257,20.834 521.349,21.575 C519.376,22.342 517.703,23.368 516.035,25.035 C514.368,26.702 513.342,28.377 512.574,30.349 C511.834,32.258 511.326,34.438 511.181,37.631 C511.035,40.831 511,41.851 511,50 C511,58.147 511.035,59.17 511.181,62.369 C511.326,65.562 511.834,67.743 512.574,69.651 C513.342,71.625 514.368,73.296 516.035,74.965 C517.703,76.634 519.376,77.658 521.349,78.425 C523.257,79.167 525.438,79.673 528.631,79.82 C531.831,79.965 532.853,80.001 541,80.001 C549.148,80.001 550.169,79.965 553.369,79.82 C556.562,79.673 558.743,79.167 560.652,78.425 C562.623,77.658 564.297,76.634 565.965,74.965 C567.633,73.296 568.659,71.625 569.425,69.651 C570.167,67.743 570.674,65.562 570.82,62.369 C570.966,59.17 571,58.147 571,50 C571,41.851 570.966,40.831 570.82,37.631"></path></g></g></g></svg></div><div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style=" color:#3897f0; 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overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CwbInLhA6cx/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none;" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Connor Brown (@dtbrown28)</a></p></div></blockquote> <script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script>



<p>“The whole family side of it was great,” Brown said. “It was nice to be there for her and be there for the birth of my son. I had a great support system. It was a big piece of adversity in my career. It was definitely a learning curve and I feel like I’m better for it.”</p><div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="3" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="144"></div>



<p>Through all of it, Brown wasn’t quite sure what the future would hold as a free agent. Would teams be lining up? Or would he have to wait and grind for a new deal in a flat-cap world? It was the former, with upwards of 12 to 16 teams expressing interest in his services to agent Jeff Jackson, who since became the Oilers’ CEO of hockey operations. Since Brown missed more than 100 days of the season due to injury, he had a unique contract structure available to him in which he could sign with minimal cap hit and reachable incentives that could apply to the following season’s cap. It’s a structure that is typically only available to NHL players 35 or older.</p>



<p>That type of deal perfectly suited the Oilers, who were tight to this season’s cap and are expecting a league-wide bump in 2024-25. Brown signed a one-year deal in Edmonton on July 1 for the league minimum $775,000 with a $3.25 million payment coming his way once he reaches 10 games played this season.</p><div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="4" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="177"></div>



<p>No surprise, he’s played the preseason on McDavid’s right flank, hoping to recreate the magic they had together as Erie Otters from 2012-14. It was Brown, not the much younger McDavid, who paced the Otters in scoring those two seasons.</p>



<p>In Erie, the deadly duo of McDavid and Brown alone weren’t enough oomph for the Otters to make the playoffs. That doesn’t figure to be a problem in Edmonton this season, where expectations are sky-high for both the Oilers and Brown. Eleven months ago, Brown’s hockey world was thrown upside down. It’s all seemingly come together now with Brown now maybe exactly where he is supposed to be.</p>



<p>“When I exited Ottawa, I wanted to play for a contender. I’m a competitor, that’s something Connor sees in me,” Brown said. “Last season was a learning curve, for sure, and I feel like I’m better for it. I’m happy where it all led me to. I think I’m in the perfect spot.”</p><div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="5" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="161"></div>



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