Connor Brown has made himself impossible to miss at New Jersey Devils practices.
It does not matter which session you pick from September through April. At some point, Brown is going to do something that jumps out - waving his stick in the air, banging it against the glass, grinning like a guy who still can’t believe he gets to do this for a living.
The energy is constant. The enthusiasm is real.
That kind of presence has not gone unnoticed inside the room.
“A lot of energy,” Jack Hughes said. “A guy who really loves playing in the NHL. For me, I really appreciate people who love the game and come to the rink every day and have a lot of fun with it.”
Jesper Bratt sees the same thing.
“He just loves the game,” Bratt added. “For guys like me and Jack, who play with him, we can have those constant talks about improvement and trying to get better.
Just talk the game, send clips to each other, send videos and just find ways to create more and more all the time. He is extremely invested.”
That investment is part of why Brown fit so quickly with the Devils, and part of why Hughes eventually went to coach Sheldon Keefe with a request that changed Brown’s role in the 2025-26 season. Brown did not start the year alongside the duo known as “peanut butter and jelly,” but that arrangement came later.
Keefe had already seen what Brown brought to the table.
“Brown is very personable, likes to talk, and is a student of the game,” Keefe said last season. “Guys like [Hughes] and Bratt are drawn to that because of Brown’s personality.
Then you look at his experience, playing with elite guys; he picks up on different things, being around them every day. They want to know about and hear about.
He also gives them some confidence. He can help them.
He can play with them.”
Brown’s first season in New Jersey backed that up. He put up 43 points, with 18 goals and 25 assists, matching the single-season career high he had set in 2019-20. He also led the team’s forwards in shorthanded ice time and chipped in on the power play.
The on-ice fit was obvious. Brown gave the Devils a depth piece who could move up the lineup without looking out of place and handle top-six minutes when asked.
The off-ice fit may have been just as important. He brought a sharp, honest voice to the locker room and became one of the more direct players around a microphone.
“A lot of experience and a lot of knowledge from [playing with] different types of teams, but mostly those two years with the Edmonton Oilers,” Bratt said. “A really good voice in the room. A guy who wants to teach everyone else around him the things that he has.
“He is very, very good at expressing his opinions and his knowledge about the game.”
For a team trying to take the next step, Brown looked like the kind of offseason addition that checks every box. He understands what it takes to get deep into a season after making back-to-back Stanley Cup Final appearances in 2024 and 2025, and that background has clearly carried weight in New Jersey.
“He has honestly been a great add for us on the ice,” Jack Hughes continued. “ In the locker room, away from the rink, just a really fun guy to be around.”
Brett Pesce may have put the cleanest stamp on it.
“We are lucky to have him.”
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