Every team needs an everyman. And they all want one. There’s something enticing, to coaches and executives, about the serviceable, effective, unremarkable player.

In Connor Brown’s last 27 games, after spending the start of the season on the fourth line, the 23-year-old rookie is playing at a 56-point, 29-goal, 82-game pace with 10 goals and 19 points. In his last 12 games, Brown has picked up as many points, held scoreless just thrice along the way.

Even when he was on the Leafs’ fourth line to start the year, playing alongside Matt Martin and Peter Holland while Milan Michalek got an early nod with Nazem Kadri, it was clear Brown was both effective and capable of playing higher in the lineup.

For his increased production, Brown certainly owes thanks to Auston Matthews. But his efficiency on the penalty kill and strong performance on the Leafs’ budding power play (in limited usage), and play away from the puck help reinforce sentiment that Brown is a capable, versatile top-nine scorer.

But it shouldn’t come as a surprise, should it? Brown was dominant, without faltering, for three straight seasons ahead of his first full year in the NHL. In his final year in the CHL, he was the league’s leading scorer, a First Team All-Star, and the OHL’s Most Outstanding Player. A year later, he led the Marlies in points as the AHL’s highest-scoring rookie. Last year, marred by a broken foot, Brown played at a near point-per-game pace in the AHL before adding six points in seven games in his first stint with the Leafs.

This year, despite relatively heavy defensive usage, Brown has produced more points per 60 minutes played at even strength than William Nylander and Kadri. His versatility, having only recently settled into a full-time role on the Matthews line, shows in his team-high goals for percentage (raw and relative to his teammates) while riding only its seventh highest on-ice shooting percentage.

But what has allowed Brown to fit in on all three lines he has played on, with spot duty on Kadri’s checking unit?

In order to gain a better understanding of Brown’s stylistic mechanics, I broke down each frame of his most recent game against the New York Rangers, a 5-2 Leafs loss. The game, in which Brown was held scoreless and most of the team struggled, will help illustrate — not definitively, because the sample size is too small — how Brown’s game has been able to adapt in the NHL so quickly.

Each of those sequences is broken down, descriptively, below, before some conclusions are drawn.

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On Brown’s first shift of the game, when he notices Roman Polak is engaged in a puck battle, he pivots up ice to get in motion. Rather than engaging in the puck battle with Polak, putting himself below the faceoff circle without an outlet, Brown goes to the hash-marks, protects the puck, and chips it through two oncoming checkers to find Matt Hunwick for a clean zone exit.

On his next shift, after receiving a pass in the neutral zone, Brown recognizes a streaking Matthews and finds him in stride for a scoring chance with a one-touch pass.

The first high-danger scoring chance against Brown’s line came moments later, when, off an offensive zone draw, a bouncing puck hops over his stick and Michael Grabner goes the other way, beating Connor Carrick wide for a scoring chance.

On the penalty kill, while marking his man in the high slot and tracking a secondary target at the top of the faceoff circle, Brown anticipates a Frederik Gauthier recovery, flees the zone away from Gauthier to open up space off the rush, and wins a race to the offensive zone blueline. There, Gauthier finds him in stride and Brown sends the puck back to his centreman in the slot for a near goal. There’s nothing special about this play, but Brown works hard to make it happen and makes two quick decisions — like he did on the earlier chip play.

On his next shift, now at even strength, Brown beats his man in a footrace for another chip play, sending Matthews (again) for another scoring chance. When Matthews doesn’t convert, the play goes the other way and, after jumping up into the rush, Brown exhausts himself on the backcheck, forces a turnover, and skates hard back the other way moments later (not shown) to get to the front of the net first.

Near the end of the first period, Brown’s line gives up a goal against. Here, after Roman Polak loses a puck battle cleanly despite favourable positioning, and three Leafs overcommit on one check, leaving Zach Hyman’s mark — Mika Zibanejad — open to sneak in off the right wing and poke a loose puck in. Note Brown, on the left edge of the scrum after coming in from his mark at the point (out of frame). Yes, that’s three blue helmets on the zoom in Frame 2.

Moments later, as the deep man in the offensive zone, Brown wins another backcheck race to force a dump and a subsequent turnover. Here, Brown’s speed and determination to make a simple but worthwhile play pays off (a theme).

On another play, Brown recognizes a mishandled puck behind the goalline and gains the inside track, without needing to outmuscle his man, before coming away with the puck and sending it to the point for a Nikita Zaitsev shot on goal. This is a simple, quick, decisive play.

Midway through the second, another quick decision, this time to headman the puck in a split second, springs Zach Hyman off the rush.

Throughout, Brown remained active on the penalty kill to provide support, often secondary, and force turnbacks like he did here:

On his final shift of the second period, Brown provides similar secondary support, forcing a rushed Rangers reroute while Hyman pursues the carrier, forces a turnover, and scores. Brown isn’t credited with an assist, but his support marginally impacts the play.

Late in the game, with the Leafs on the brink, Brown made another play: a quick 180-degree spin pass on two touches to set up a point shot.

Then, another aggressive back-check despite being well behind the play when the Rangers gained possession — and the dump-in turnover to match, naturally. Here, Brown works to gain advantageous, above-puck body positioning.

Once more, on his next shift, this time with his most aggressive back-check of the bunch, Brown again gets in front of the carrier and rubs him off the puck for a clean, impressive retrieval:

Lessons:

For just the third time in his last dozen games, Brown was held scoreless. But in a game where the Leafs were heavily outplayed in one of their weaker showings of the season, Brown was responsible defensively and made three play offensively that led to scoring chances and near assists (two to Matthews and one, while shorthanded, to Gauthier).

It’s evident that Brown’s successful promotion to the NHL hasn’t been facilitated through any one high-end trait. He isn’t an imposing physical presence, he doesn’t have a lethal shot, and he doesn’t have the high-end change of pace that a Nylander does.

Instead, it’s frontal body positioning on puck carriers, the team’s most relentless back-check, and on-the-stick, off-the-stick chip plays, two-touch handles, or a decisive pass that have allowed Brown to both play with pace offensively and keep opposing scorers in check.

On his line’s goal against, Brown was well-positioned and his teammates overcompensated. On the only other scoring chance he gave up; a bouncing puck, flatfooted Carrick, and elite speed from Grabner made for a tough break.

Defensively, he is active in surveillance, picking up his — and sometimes other players’ — marks. On the penalty kill, he provides secondary support when he needs to and aggressive body positioning when he doesn’t, pushing carriers wide into forced plays.

Notice on both offensive sequences in which Matthews was involved, at least against the Rangers, that Brown was the one making the play for his fellow rookie. While this doesn’t definitively show Brown can flourish without the boost of playing with Matthews, it certainly helps the rookie winger make a case for himself as an independent contributor.

And while Brown’s age, already 23, places him closer to the end of his ameliorative curve than the beginning, if he can continue to pace as a 40-point offensive option and stout defender, he’ll find continued NHL success in spite of his average skill-set.

Already, as a rookie, Brown is an everyman — the Leafs’ jack of all trades and master of none.