Bouchard reveals surprising Oiler leading team in locker room speeches

In a new interview with NHL network before tonight's game, Evan Bouchard revealed that Connor Brown has been the teammate to step up most often to speak in the room.

Despite having a very disappointing season with the Oilers, Connor Brown has stepped up his game in the playoffs - and is stepping up behind the scenes as well.

Brown only scored 4 goals and 12 points in 71 games this season, but has a goal and 3 assists in 11 playoff games, and has been consistently noticeable on the fourth line and record-setting penalty kill.

Now 30 years old but without a deep playoff run in his career, Brown isn't exactly the the one you'd expect to step up for a locker room speech, but he's got the character to do it. A few days ago, Brown showed his relaxed and positive character while calling out the criticism around Darnell Nurse, and speaking on his assist on a goal from Mattias Janmark.

At this point, Brown's disappointments earlier in the season no longer matter. To see him elevate his game in the playoffs and be a leader behind the scenes in the playoffs is worth so much more than points in the regular season. Brown's redemption in the playoffs is becoming a fantastic underlying storyline to this year's Oilers run.