Edmonton Oilers for Roman Hamrlík. Although surprised to be traded, Brewer was excited at the prospect of playing for the Oilers, who saw Brewer as a top-four defenceman. However, Brewer's Oiler career began on a sour note as he suffered a bruised left hip and tailbone in his first game with the team. Brewer missed the next four games before returning to the lineup. Brewer scored his first goal as an Oiler on November 7, 2000, against the New York Rangers. Brewer finished his first Oiler season with career highs in goals, assists and points, as well as the best plus/minus rating on the Oilers team, a plus-15. Further, Brewer gained his first NHL playoff experience, a quarterfinal series versus the Dallas Stars. Brewer had six points, but the Oilers were eliminated four games to two by the Stars. The Oilers re-signed Brewer, who was a free agent, to a one-year, $907,500 contract in August 2001. In his second season with the Oilers, Brewer was assigned to play against the opposing teams' best offensive players by Oilers head coach Craig MacTavish. Brewer began to play more minutes in games, typically placing among the NHL leaders in average minutes played per game. With this enhanced role on the team, Brewer finished his season with new career highs in assists and points for the second consecutive season, and matched his career high in goals. Although his single year contract expired, his role on the Oilers had become more important and Brewer expected a large raise for his third season with the Oilers. After a long holdout that lasted until the beginning of Oilers training camp, Brewer finally signed a two-year, $4-million contract in September 2002. At the half of the 2002–03 NHL season, Brewer was named to play in his first NHL All-Star Game, dressing for the Western Conference in the fifty-third edition of the game. He finished with career highs for assists and points and set a career high for goals for the third consecutive season. He appeared in his second NHL playoffs, another quarterfinal series against the Dallas Stars in which the Oilers were once again eliminated four games to two. Brewer finished the playoffs with four points in the Oilers' six games. In his fourth season with the Oilers, Brewer continued his role as a top defenceman. On November 22, 2003, Brewer was among the participants in the historic