Carolina Hurricanes #1 Draft Choice: Logan Brown

Unless the Carolina Hurricanes win the NHL Entry Draft lottery and have a pick in the top three, their focus needs to move on to the one and only choice they should make in the first round – Logan Brown of the Windsor Spitfires.

After finishing 18th in the NHL this season the Carolina Hurricanes are squarely in the middle of the first round of the draft at #13. At that position Mock Draft websites have a handful of prospects that the Canes will probably be in the running for – Julien Gauthier (QMJHL); Clayton Keller (NTDP); Mike McLeod (OHL); Logan Brown (OHL); Max Jones (OHL); Kieffer Bellows (NTDP); Luke Kunin (Big-10)

From their statistics any one of these players belongs in the first round discussions, and some of them look ready for the professional ranks immediately. Logan Brown stands out from this crowd, and it’s the reason General Manager Ron Francis should make sure he’s our pick, no matter what it takes. Here’s why.

He’s big…I mean REALLY BIG

I wrote just a few days ago that the Hurricanes biggest need for next season is size. They don’t have any big bodies to take up space on the ice and deliver heavy checks when they’re needed. You can quickly read my take on it here:

READ – Carolina Hurricanes need Big Bodies to compete

At his current height, weight and age Logan Brown is an anomaly in this year’s draft. A quick scan of the top-20 ranked prospects for the June draft would suggest that the average height is around 6 foot and the average weight hovers around 200 pounds.

That puts Logan a good five to six inches taller than most any of the other top 2016 draft picks, and he has 15-20 pounds on almost all of them. AND AT 18 YEARS OLD HE’S STILL GROWING!

(Editors note – If you go and do the actual math and get slightly different figures please don’t tell me about it…and get a hobby.)

As Windsor General Manager Warren Rychel put it when they acquired Brown through a blockbuster trade a couple years ago, “He’s our guy. He’s big and he’s intelligent. When he plays in the NHL he’s going to be bigger, taller, even faster. He’s a real good player right now; he’s going to become a great player.” (courtesy Jason Menard)

Windsor blueliner Mikhail Sergachev, who’s also ranked in the top 20 of this year’s draft class, touted Brown’s size, saying he’s very tough to slow down in practice. (courtesy Mike G. Morreale)

“He’s so big he plays like Jaromir Jagr, something like that ability,” Sergachev said.

Brown has the size to play in the NHL right now, and will only get bigger and stronger as he gets older. The key though will be his development as a man, as he matures emotionally and learns how to use his size and skills as an adult. Only time will tell us how that goes.

The big kid’s got skills too

Teenagers who are well over six feet tall and 220 pounds aren’t usually expected to be skilled skaters and points producers. Coaches look to them for a physical presence and usually relegate them to the bottom lines and limited ice time. That’s not the case for Logan Brown.

In Mike Morreale’s profile on NHL.com Brown said, “I’ve been pretty big my entire life but have also put in a lot of work on the ice every day. I work on having quick feet and that explosiveness that might help me become one of those better skaters.”

According to Logan’s father, former NHL player Jeff Brown (who we’ll cover below), “I coached him basically his whole life and he always was one of the hardest workers on the team,” Brown said. “He was always tall so he was used to his size. It wasn’t as if he had a growth spurt and had to suddenly get used to it.”

Growing up and playing junior hockey in the St. Louis area, Logan played with and against older skaters from the time he was 10 years old. On top of his father’s professional tutelage he also grew up skating with and getting tips from Blues stars Keith Tkachuk and Al MacInnis. Not a bad set of tutors to have if you’re heading to the NHL, right?

Many scouting reports and profiles call his skating stride “long and smooth” with “elite top-end speed”. His shot has been described as “absolutely deadly” with a control and velocity that “would be impressive at the NHL level”.

All of that size, speed and skill led him to be a team leader in points this past season, tallying 74 points in 59 games and leading the team as a set up man with 53 assists.

I’d say that’s exactly the combination the Carolina Hurricanes need for next season and beyond.

He’s got a Hurricanes pedigree – It’s Fate!

This last reason for the Hurricanes to draft Brown is somewhat personal. I like the history of hockey, especially when it’s family-related or generational. The Sutter Brothers, the Staals, the Hulls, the Howes, the Stasnys. If an organization can make a good trade or get a good prospect that involves a family connection, I’m all in.

Again, Logan Brown fits this one to a ‘T’.

He was born in Raleigh in 1998 after his dad, Whalers defenseman Jeff Brown, found himself in a new Carolina Hurricanes jersey. I haven’t been able to confirm it yet, but I would bet that Logan was on one of first Hurricanes babies born here in North Carolina?

More from Draft

• Felix Unger Sorum Could Have a Very Interesting Spot In Carolina’s Future
• Bradly Nadeau Is Going To Be Worth The Pick And Then Some
• Kid Canes: Meet Bradly Nadeau. The 1st Hurricanes Draft Pick
• Kids Canes: Draft Updates As The Canes Make Some Awesome Picks
• “We Like Our Group” Remarks Are Getting Old. Really. They Are.

His dad was born in Ottawa and drafted by the Quebec Nordiques in 1984 (yeah, I know…ironic). Over his 13 year NHL career he played for Nordiques, St. Louis Blues, Vancouver Canucks and Hartford Whalers. During that final 1997-98 season he was traded from the Hurricanes to the Maple Leafs mid-season, then to the Washington Capitals for a playoff run.

He started his coaching career in 2005 with the Missouri Rivers Otters of the UHL, and is now GM and head coach of the Ottawa 67’s of the Ontario Hockey League. Yes, Logan is the top scorer for one of his dad’s biggest rival teams.

Logan of course never got to see his dad play hockey, but he has watched many of his games on old tapes and videos.

Again, courtesy of Mike Morreale’s profile on NHL.com, Logan and his father recount watching those past games, and one particular play they both have fond memories about.

“When I watched those tapes, that’s when I decided I wanted to play in the NHL,” Brown said. “It became a dream for me. I think the greatest memory I have of a game was when he sprung Pavel Bure from the defensive zone with a tape-to-tape pass that led to the goal that beat the Calgary Flames in overtime (in the 1994 Stanley Cup Playoffs).”Jeff Brown was asked if he remembered the play.“Of course I remember the pass,” he said. “One of my most memorable moments from my career.”

Here’s the video:

Now his son is considered one of the top prospects in the NHL Entry Draft. And unless the Hurricanes can win the lottery they should do everything they can to sign this kid, including trading up in the draft selection if it looks like he may go before the 13th spot. Ron Francis has all the assets he needs, and if necessary he needs to use some on this kid.

Brown is the type of prospect that scouts drool over, and other teams will be shooting for. He should start his long and successful NHL career in the same jersey his father wore. A Carolina Hurricanes jersey.