Who won the Connor Brown trade a year later.

 Look back at the Connor Brown trade to Washington and how it looks a year later. 

So last year the Washington Capitals knew they were going to need help up front to start the 22-23 season with major cogs in their forward group in Wilson and Backstrom missing the start of the season due to injury problems, and the Ottawa Senators after acquiring DeBrincat earlier in the offseason were looking to move on from Connor Brown who was in the final year of his deal and was being bumped out of the top 9 in Ottawa so seeing as how the two teams could help each other, the Caps and Sens wound up making a deal on July 13 as Ottawa sent Washington Connor Brown in exchange for the Caps 2024 2RD pick, now this deal was supposed to help the Caps stay competitive with Brown in the top six until Wilson and Backstrom got back where he could then be a solid 3rd line forward, while the Sens got a pick for a player they weren't going to keep, so now that we are over a year after this deal was completed, I am looking back to see how these two teams made out of this deal, and who is the winner a year later. 

Geoff Burke USA Today Sports 

Caps side: So first on the Capitals side of things, they acquired Brown to help the teams top 6 early on in the season, and once Wilson got back from injury and resumed his spot in the Caps top six, they would ideally have Brown on either line 2 or 3 and hoped that he would have a season close to the season he had the year prior in Ottawa when he put up 10 goals and 39 points in 64 games, but it wasn't meant to be for the Caps. 

As Brown in his first 3 games with Washington had no points and if that was just a slow start I think the Caps would've been alright, but in his fourth game with Washington he suffered a bad ACL injury that would keep him out for the rest of the season and this was not good for Washington as not only did it mean they were down one top 9 forward for basically the entire year, which could've helped them get closer to the playoffs, but given the fact that Brown suffered a season ending injury, it also meant that the Caps weren't able to move him at the deadline like they were able to do with guys like Orlov and Gustafsson, as I think had the Caps still not done well even with Brown in the lineup, and had they still been sellers at the deadline they probably could've gotten at least a 3RD pick for him, so not only do they not get his production in the lineup, but they also aren't able to get a return for him at the deadline. 

Then in the offseason he doesn't resign with the Caps and he winds up going to Edmonton and signing there as a free agent, so the Caps gave up a 2ND round pick in next years draft in exchange for 4 games worth of Connor Brown, now the Caps never knew he was going to be injured last year, but looking at how this trade worked out for the Capitals a year later, I have a feeling they wouldn't have made this trade with Ottawa for Brown and I would give the Capitals a C- on this trade as due to the injury I think a year later this team would come out on the losing side of this deal.

Joe Camporeale USA Today Sports

Sens side: now for the Senators they really didn't get anything they could use in their lineup last year in this trade, as the reason the team made this move was they had a abundance of NHL level wingers after trading for DeBrincat last offseason and it didn't sound like Brown was going to be brought back, so instead of the Senators playing Brown in a reduced role where he wouldn't get much playing time and would take a roster spot from another player, they moved him with his value pretty high and were able to get a draft selection out of the trade. 

Now this pick was supposed to be used in 2024 for Ottawa but they have actually moved this pick as part of a in-season trade and the player they got by moving this pick I think makes the Senators winners of the original deal. Now right around the deadline there was a lot of speculation that the Coyotes were going to move on from Jacob Chychrun in a trade and it seemed that the longer the situation dragged on the lower the asking price got and Ottawa was able to pull of a deal they liked, as they moved their 1st round pick in 2023 that was top 5 protected and the Caps 24 2RD pick they acquired in the Brown trade that did have conditions on it as well as their own 26 2RD pick to Arizona for Jacob Chychrun which most people thought was a fantastic deal for Ottawa. 

Now Ottawa's 23 1RD pick wasn't top 5 so Arizona got it and the Sen's did not go to the Eastern Conference Final so the Cap's 2RD pick in 24 was moved, so Ottawa winds up packaging the Cap's 24 2RD pick with their 23 1RD and 26 2RD pick to nab Chychrun from Arizona, so moving Brown winds up helping Ottawa get Chychrun in the long run, and although that pick wasn't the main pick going to Arizona, I think Ottawa was more comfortable making the trade knowing they had a extra 2RD pick in 24. 

So after moving the pick to Arizona, Ottawa gets Chychrun who only played in 12 games to finish the year last season before being injured, but put up 5 Points and looked fantastic and the thing Chychrun has is that he is also signed for this season and next, so instead of a year of Connor Brown they get two and a half years of Chychrun which I think they like a lot more and Chychrun makes the blueline which was something they needed to improve on better, so this trade of Connor Brown winds up helping Ottawa land Chychrun and in my eyes I think that gives the Senators a B+ rating on this trade as it not only got them a solid asset for a Pending UFA, but was also able to help land the team a solid top 4 Defensemen which I think makes them the winners of this deal.

So to recap, the Caps acquired Connor Brown in the 22 offseason from the Senators in exchange for a 2024 2RD pick, the Caps got 4 games of Brown before he suffered a season ending injury and went in the 23 offseason and signed with Edmonton as a free agent, while Ottawa used the pick they got in this trade and packaged it up with two other picks to get two and a half years of Chychrun, so in my eyes with the Caps only getting 4 games of Brown before he left and Ottawa using the pick to help get Chychrun, I think a year later Ottawa winds up being the winner of this deal, and had Brown not be injured maybe it is a bit different and maybe the Caps win this deal, but looking back I think we can all agree Ottawa won this deal, but I would like to hear your opinion on this deal a year later down in the comments.