The 'Godfather' offer: Why Connor Brown chose the Edmonton Oilers

EDMONTON — Oh, to be a fly on the wall in Ristorante Sotto Sotto one night last summer in downtown Toronto as Connor McDavid made his sales pitch to in-demand free agent and his former junior teammate Connor Brown to join the Edmonton Oilers.

Brown confirmed there wasn’t much salesmanship required, more like a "Godfather" moment with the don of the hockey world making offer he couldn’t refuse.

“He laid out his plans and how he saw me,” Brown said. “It was right then and there, became pretty clear to me where my future lays.”

For Brown, it was fitting in some ways that his future was decided over a plate of pasta, since food was just about the only thing Brown had control over last season. Four games into his tenure with the Washington Capitals last October, Brown blew out his ACL when his leg twisted under him during an awkward spill into the boards after a mostly routine hit from Vancouver Canucks defenseman Noah Juulsen.

Brown, then 28, underwent surgical repair on Nov. 1 – leaving a player who didn’t miss a single game in his first five full NHL seasons with suddenly a lot of time on his hands.

“To say it wasn’t tough, I’d be lying,” Brown said. “You’re living in a new city, a city you don’t know anything about. Virginia and Washington D.C. are a long way from home for me in terms of what the culture is like. It was a difficult year.”

Unable to play and on the shelf for the remainder of the season, in a contract year no less, Brown needed to fill his days outside of rehab every morning at the Capitals’ suburban Virginia practice facility. His challenge: If I can’t improve on the ice, what is one small way to improve off it? His answer: Diet and nutrition.

“I would watch hockey, crush some Netflix series, take the dog on a ton of walks, and then I meal prepped,” Brown said. “I reinvented my diet, reinvented my training and watched a lot of hockey. I was definitely a solid eater before, but you have a lot of down time. Me and my wife (Madison) were cooking every night, getting inventive with meals. That was kind of our life in Virginia.”

He probably won’t be appearing on an upcoming episode of "Top Chef," but he did have a go-to. “A lot of meat and vegetables,” Brown said, laughing.

Brown praised the Capitals coaching and training staff for trying to make him feel part of the team. He spent a lot of time with recently retired forward Carl Hagelin, John Carlson and Tom Wilson as they also rehabbed their injuries. But it was entirely new territory for Brown, a year in which you’re paid like an NHL player, but don’t really feel like one.

“There was some dark days,” Brown said. “It’s a mental grind to go through something like that. I knew I was going to do everything I could to get myself back. When I accepted that, it was just a matter of time. But you can’t fight the clock. These things take time.”

And Brown used that time to his advantage, spending more time with Madison as they prepared to welcome their first child, son Nolan, to the world in August.