Oilers Notes: Josh Brown looks to provide size, grit in Oilers third D pairing

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When Vincent Desharnais priced himself out of here because of the tight salary cap and gladly took Vancouver’s two-year, $2 million AAV free-agent offer on July 1, the Edmonton Oilers pivoted and signed the like-minded, big-body, right-shot defenceman Josh Brown.

They got Brown for half Desharnais’s money, but for three years.

Now will Brown be 100 per cent as good a player as Desharnais, 28, who took 159 minor-league games to get to the Oilers but was an excellent shot-blocking, long-reach, third-pairing, penalty-killing defenceman for the past two seasons?

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Until the real firing starts Oct. 9 when Winnipeg Jets are here, we’re not sure how Brown will fit, but the former Arizona defenceman, who plays tough like Desharnais, looks like he’s pencilled in start the season as Brett Kulak’s third-pairing partner and also get penalty-killing time, like Desharnais.

Brown has an abrasive bent to his game and will, for sure, defend his teammates. All good, but his puck-handling, clearing the zone, getting the puck in the hands of the forwards on the fly, at least in the pre-season, has looked a little rough around the edges.

Again, it’s early, and we’ll see how the veteran of 229 NHL games looks once the season kicks off. For now, he seems to be the third-pairing right-shot defenceman, ahead of the smaller Troy Stecher on the depth chart. But there’s a learning curve for the 6-foot-5, 220-pound Brown, 30, who has played for Florida, Ottawa, Boston, Arizona before arriving in Edmonton.

“Josh is getting familiar with the team, the systems, his D partners, maybe not so much from practice but from game-to-game,” said Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch.

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“There’s the element of playing fast, of having physicality but with our D, there’s an element of playing good defensive hockey … that’s expected from everybody.”

“We haven’t seen the penalty killing … we lost a lot of components up front (with the departure of Warren Foegele and Ryan McLeod) but also on the right-shot of the defence (with the Cody Ceci trade and departure of Desharnais). That’s a big part of his DNA,” said Knoblauch.

“We’ve got (Ty) Emberson whom we feel confident can kill, and (Brett) Kulak did a lot more of that in the playoffs after not doing much in regular-season. We’ve also talked of Bouchard doing some penalty-killing, so we’ll wait and see,” he said.

Back to work

Goalie Calvin Pickard, who whacked his neck against the post in a goalmouth smackdown last weekend, was stopping shots Wednesday morning in a short practice with four players — Emberson, Stecher, Corey Perry and Vasily Podkolzin — who weren’t playing against the Kraken.

He said he felt fine, but also said he was fortunate. It could have been worse.

“I like to push the envelope a little bit. I’m an aggressive goalie so those things are going to happen. Pretty big collision, but all things considered, I’m pretty happy the way I’m feeling the last few days,” said Pickard, who has barely played, a total of 48 1/2 minutes, in pre-season and could use more.

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“I don’t know if it’s a concern. Last year I played one (pre-season) game but got off to a really good start to regular-season. Mentally I’m in a good spot,” said Pickard, who gave up four goals to Calgary in half a game, when the Oilers were loose in front of him and he also gave up one goal he would like back.

“There was some rust there but everybody’s dealing with it. There were a lot of things to clean up,” said Pickard, who then was out in the first period against Seattle when Yanni Gourde bumped Noah Philp, who then knocked Pickard over.

“Fluky play, I don’t think anybody was at fault. Philp was just taking away Gourde on the backcheck. Unlucky situation. I’ve never had an injury like this but it’s a fast sport, lots of guys going hard to the net. This is a potential happening,” he said.

Last fall, Pickard was the No. 3 in the organization in camp, with Jack Campbell and Stuart Skinner as the 1 and 1a in net. Now, he’s the clear backup to Skinner with a crowded Oilers schedule in October and two back-to-backs, so he figures to play two or three times the first month.

Friendly hello

Connor McDavid found himself being bear-hugged by Desharnais in Monday’s exhibition after a Pius Suter-Corey Perry-97 skirmish. Did Desharnais, who looks like a third-pairing Canucks’ partner with Derek Forbort, say anything to 97?

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“Uh, no. I wasn’t looking for that fight,” laughed McDavid, who was slated to play in Seattle Wednesday and likely will get a Canucks rematch in Vancouver as well on Friday for his fourth and fifth exhibitions, more than normal.

This ‘n that

• Ben Gleason, Phil Kemp, Lane Pederson and goalie Collin Delia all cleared waivers and are on the way to Bakersfield. Only one player off a long list — Vancouver goalie Jiri Patera — was claimed, by Boston …
• Darnell Nurse, who hasn’t played all of Oilers camp after sustaining a suspected oblique muscle issue in the finals against Florida, and Emberson could be partners for the first league game against Winnipeg but while they’ve played together in the practices, getting into a game still hasn’t happened. “I think I showcased myself well in camp, just being a simple defenceman, making a good first pass, having good gaps, being good on the PK,” said Emberson. “It’s always nice to have a regular partner but in camp there’s lots of moving pieces.” …
• Ex-Oilers winger Adam Erne was released from his PTO with the New York Rangers …
• If winger Roby Jarventie, who came here in the Xavier Bourgault trade and didn’t play any pre-season games, is on opening IR to start the season with a knee issue, he counts $107,000 against the Oilers cap according to PuckPedia …
• Perry took some friendly fire in practice Wednesday, getting drilled twice above the skate boot as he stood in front of the net. Lots of grimaces but no apparent problems …
• Campbell has only played 24 pre-season minutes with a crowded crease in Detroit …
• Pickard and Derek Ryan were dynamite in the team pickleball tournament at camp last year and the Oilers are having another team-building event Thursday on this pre-season final trip to Seattle and Vancouver. “Derek and I were partners last year and I’d like to see him draft me again. We’ve got some unfinished business,” said Pickard.

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