What some people might forget is that the first player to get a shot at the NHL level this season was none other than Patrick Brown.
After signing as an undrafted free agent last spring and attending Carolina’s rookie camp, Brown appeared in the NHL Prospects Tournament in Traverse City, where he was selected as one of 23 players to represent the Hurricanes. From then through the end of training camp, the rookie center caught the eyes of the coaches and earned himself a spot on the opening night roster.
The 23-year-old’s professional debut came in Carolina’s opener against the New York Rangers, and Brown would go on to appear in each of the first seven games for the NHL club, recording no points and four penalty minutes. Brown was then assigned to Charlotte, where he would join the Checkers with his NHL stint fresh on his mind.
“It gave me great experience,” said Brown. “I got to learn up there and see what it took to be in the NHL, and then I got to come down and do all that here. I’m really happy that I got that experience and I’m going to keep working towards that.”
Upon arriving in Charlotte, Brown played five games with the Checkers before getting hurt and being sidelined for a month. While being forced out of games that early in a rookie season could completely derail a young player’s progress, the nature of the injury and Brown’s commitment to getting back eventually led to his return to the lineup, though the lingering effects of the injury weren’t something that just disappeared.
“It was really hard,” said Brown. “Even when you come back, it doesn’t just go away. My hand hurt most of the year. But you just start to forget about something like that because everyone’s got bumps and bruises and you play through it. It stinks, but that’s hockey.”
That drive to battle back from his injury was just one of the positives Brown took from the strong veteran leadership on the team. The leap from the college ranks to the pros can be a tumultuous one, so the ability to watch those older players undoubtedly helped the process.
“The college season is so much more spread out, only playing two games a week and getting a week to recover. Here you see a guy like [Kyle] Hagel working out an hour after every game and cold tubbing and doing everything he needs to do to stay healthy, you watch guys like that and you pick it up and you get better at that. We had a lot of heart, with guys like Hagel and [Ben] Holmstrom leading the way. No shortcuts. This team had a lot of heart. There were no days where we weren’t working.”
“It was a really cool experience,” said Brown. “We all got to come in and experience being a rookie together. Through the ups and downs it was cool to have those five other guys to do it with. It was great and I made some great friends.”
With 10 points (2g, 8a) in his rookie campaign, Brown wasn’t much of an offensive threat for the Checkers, but balanced that out by being a reliable penalty killer. But what he did bring was a consistent, grind-it-out style of play that made him a mainstay in the middle of the lineup. With the offseason to build his game, Brown is aiming to bring more to the table for his sophomore season.
“Goal-scoring touch,” said Brown when asked what he wanted to focus on over the summer. “I just had too many chances around the net this year that I didn’t put in the back of the net and that obviously hurt our team. So just scoring goals around the net, getting greasier and finding my hands in the blue paint.”
As for the team as a whole, missing the playoffs didn’t sit well with the former NCAA National Championship winner at Boston College, and he’s already looking forward to righting the ship next season.
“We’re all really competitive guys who want to win every night and that didn’t happen this year, but I think everyone took it to heart,” said Brown. “We’re going to be seeing these teams playing for another couple of months and I think guys are going to take that to heart and work hard this summer and be better next year.”
