About Last Season: Patrick Brown Performance Review and Grade

Patrick Brown: 2016-17 By the Numbers

• Age: 24
• NHL Seasons: 3
• NHL Games Played: 14
• Ice Time: 9:43 all situations, 9:36 ES, 0:01 PP, 0:06 PK
• 5-on-5 Stats: 44.29% CF, 12.5% GF
• Contract Status: Completed one-year, two-way contract worth $650,000 at the NHL level and $75,000 at the AHL level, pending unrestricted free agent.

Making the Grade

About Last Season

Jamie Kellner

Canes Country’s player-by-player review and grades for the 2016-17 season.

• April 13: Sebastian Aho
• April 14: Klas Dahlbeck
• April 15: Patrick Brown
• April 17: Phil Di Giuseppe
• April 18: Justin Faulk
• April 19: Brett Pesce
• April 20: Victor Rask
• April 21: Elias Lindholm
• April 24: Eddie Lack
• April 25: Brock McGinn and Jay McClement
• April 26: Andrej Nestrasil and Joakim Nordstrom
• April 27: Noah Hanifin
• April 28: Ryan Murphy
• May 1: Derek Ryan
• May 2: Jeff Skinner
• May 3: Jaccob Slavin
• May 4: Jordan Staal
• May 5: Lee Stempniak
• May 8: Matt Tennyson
• May 9: Teuvo Teravainen
• May 10: Cam Ward
• May 11: Others receiving votes
• May 12: Coaching staff and front office

A Boston College product, Patrick Brown has spent the past three seasons developing in the Hurricanes organization after being signed as an undrafted free agent following his senior season in 2014.

This season, he was given his lengthiest shot at the NHL level, playing 14 games in the month of March in a fourth-line role.

The result? He failed to find the scoresheet, and outside of being a physical presence at even strength, Brown was largely unnoticeable at the NHL level. However, by the same token, he was never expected to be a player that could put up points on a consistent basis. Instead, he was brought in for his impressive leadership qualities at a top notch BC program, paired with his ability to play a physical brand of hockey.

The 2016-17 campaign was the first time that the Checkers gave the captain crown to Mister Brown. He’s in the midst of a playoff push in Charlotte and his 16 assists and 28 points are both career-highs for him at the American league level. If he can net two goals in Charlotte’s final regular season game, it would be a career-high for him in that category as well.

His improving numbers at the AHL level, though very modest, are good to see, but it remans to be seen whether that will ever translate at the NHL level.

Brown is entering his first summer as an unrestricted free agent, and it’s certainly within the realm of possibility that he will be brought back on another two-way deal for the primary purpose of being a leader with the Checkers, but if that is the case, don’t expect Brown to get another lengthy shot in the NHL.