There’s plenty of talk around Josh Brown and whether he’ll crack the Edmonton Oilers roster this fall, and it’s not hard to see why. He brings size, a 6.05 frame at 217 pounds, a huge wingspan and the kind of physical edge that makes him stand out. He’s also the sort of defenseman who can look tailor-made for a specific role.
That said, the numbers paint a more complicated picture.
The last time Brown played enough for the sample to feel trustworthy, he was tracked at the 61st percentile in max speed. The year after that, he slipped to just below average. If the Oilers are trying to find the Vincent Desharnais type and want that look available every night, Brown fits the bill.
But size and strength don’t automatically translate into results. Desharnais posted a 50 percent goal share and 50 percent expected goal share one year ago with the San Jose Sharks. Brown, in his last full season, finished at 50 percent in goal share but only 43 percent expected.
Looking at last season’s Condors defensemen at five-on-five, Brown sits in the group that was below par. Damien Carfagna and Beau Akey had strong seasons, and Brown was better than some recall options like Stillman and Dineen, but that still doesn’t guarantee he can step into the NHL and drive a goal share above 50 percent.
The point isn’t that Brown can’t defend. It’s that the profile suggests he may not help a team outscore opponents.
Kris Russell is the obvious example. During his Oilers years, he often posted the best, or near-best, goals-against and shots-against numbers at five-on-five.
But there wasn’t much offense attached to it. He could get the puck out and survive the shift, only for the other team to recover it and start over again.
That’s why this becomes a real test of how serious Stan Bowman and Mike Babcock are about winning in 2026-27. Bowman has already collected eight notable defensemen, and if one of them ends up lost on waivers because Josh Brown is taking the spot, that looks like a poor use of talent.
In Other News...
Oilers Suddenly Have A Deadline Opportunity Fans Have Waited Years For
The Oilers have given themselves something they have not often had at this time of year: real flexibility. After clearing significant salary cap space ahead of the NHL trade deadline, Edmonton is sitting on about $5.9 million in room right now, a figure that could climb sharply as the deadline approaches. For a team that has spent years trying to squeeze every possible move into a tight cap picture, that kind of breathing room changes the conversation around what is possible.
PuckPedias projection has only added to the intrigue, with Edmonton potentially able to work with roughly $27 million by deadline day if the numbers continue to line up. Even then, the Oilers still have to navigate the usual trade-deadline balancing act, including finding the right assets to make a major deal happen and keeping an eye on the postseason cap rules. Still, for fans who have been waiting for the front office to have this kind of opening, the next few weeks suddenly look much more interesting. [Read more 🡒]
Oilers May Have Just Made Their Riskiest Blue Line Bet Yet
Ryan Sheas path to Edmonton has been a long one, winding from a 2015 draft pick of the Blackhawks to Northeastern, then through stops with Dallas and Pittsburgh before he finally found some traction with the Penguins. The left-shot defenseman is coming off the kind of season that put him back on the map, and the Oilers clearly believe there is more upside to tap as they try to reshape a blue line that needs steadier answers.
Now the real test begins. With Darnell Nurse gone, Shea is expected to step into a second-pairing role and handle tougher minutes than he has seen before, with his work on the penalty kill and at five-on-five likely to determine whether this move looks shrewd or risky. Edmonton is betting that his breakout was a sign of what is still ahead, not just a one-year spike, and that is a wager worth watching closely. [Read more 🡒]
Oilers Face One Huge Decision With Their Cap Space Suddenly Open
Edmontons improved cap picture has opened the door to a more aggressive kind of summer shopping, and it has put the front office in a spot it has not always enjoyed in recent years. With room to maneuver, the Oilers can look beyond bargain fixes and evaluate whether a real top-six upgrade is worth pursuing, especially for a team still trying to squeeze more support around its stars.
The appeal is clear enough: a proven goal scorer who also brings responsible two-way play and could fit into a higher-end forward group without needing the puck on every shift. The harder part is deciding how much that kind of addition should cost, because the Oilers can make the numbers work, but the bigger question is whether the price matches the impact they would be buying. [Read more 🡒]