After a few strong games since being recalled from Belleville, Brown is currently listed as week-to-week with an upper body injury and becomes the team's third centre to be sidelined this season.
"He's been playing great," Smith said of Brown's recent on-ice contributions. "He makes plays and he's shown that he's taken a step. He wants to be in the NHL and he can be here. It's unfortunate but we don't think he'll be out very long."
Brown now joins centres Colin White and Artem Anisimov, who joined the Senators in New York today (more on that below), on the injured reserve list and Smith now has the difficult task of replacing three key cogs down the middle.
"You don't want to say that you want one guy injured more than another but when you get injuries at centre, it's tough," said the coach. "It's a position that's hard to fill, especially when you lose three of your main guys (…) but there's nothing you can do. All you can do is give an opportunity to someone else."
