Oilers coach Knoblauch scratches veteran player after embarrassing effort

Yesterday afternoon, the Edmonton Oilers got back in the win column against a quality team in the Dallas Stars. Coach Knoblauch put the lines in the blender ahead of that game, and at practice today in Arizona, he made another tough decision. Tomorrow night against the Coyotes, Connor Brown is expected to be a healthy scratch.

The rest of the lines will remain the same as the Dallas game, with Holloway drawing back in after illness and Gagner subbing in for Brown on the fourth line. Through this entire season, Connor Brown has been a major disappointment with zero goals on the year. Last night, Brown had a noticeably poor effort on a goal against, and Knoblauch is clearly responding with the scratch. On a Stars goal, Brown made almost no effort on defence.
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With this kind of effort in the defensive zone along with producing literally zero offence in 44 games, it's well time that Brown is scratched again - despite his $3.225M salary.


Earlier this week, Oilers writer Jason Gregor speculated that the team may be looking to move Connor Brown out at the deadline to improve upon the position, and clear his salary for this year. Regardless, even if the Oilers trade Brown, they'll still be on the hook for his bonus next year.