Get to Know Logan Brown

Date of Birth: March 5, 1998 (18)
Place of Birth: Raleigh, NC
Ht: 6’6” Wt: 218 lbs
Shoots: Left
Position: Center
Team: Windsor Spitfires

After an up and down season, Windsor’s 6’6” tower of a center finds himself in an interesting place near the top of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft. He has NHL size and is a high end playmaker, but questions about his conditioning and ability to stay engaged every shift have some scouts questioning his spot in the top 10.

Statistics

What Scouts See
Tyler Parchem, Elite Prospects
“Brown is a huge center that excels at both ends of the ice. He can be dominant in the offensive zone but takes care of his own end as well. His 6’6 frame is key to his success as he uses his body to shield his puck and his reach to keep it off other players sticks. He is not overly physical for a player his size, but will finish every check and battle down low very effectively. He has a good shot with a pro like release as well as good creativity and maturity when passing the puck.”

Future Considerations

What BSN Avalanche sees
It can be difficult to scout players like Logan Brown because of the “elephant in the room,” their size. At age 18, Logan Brown stands at an absolutely enormous 6’6” 218 lbs. He is a behemoth of a prospect. The difficulty then, with a player like Brown is that they often get more benefit of the doubt that smaller players because while you can teach a player to improve their skating, or decision making, or defense, you just can’t teach size.
With Logan Brown, however, there’s no need to make those qualifiers. Logan Brown doesn’t “skate well despite his size,” he skates well period. He’s got quick feet and strong edges that make him almost impossible to knock off the puck. Brown uses his big body and long reach to protect the puck on the outside before using his legs to either step past defensemen or spin back on them with an authority and quickness rare in a player so large. In other words Brown is an enormous player, yes, but being enormous isn’t what makes him so good.
Brown has a good shot and would have scored more than his 21 goals this season in Windsor had he been willing to shoot the puck more, but what makes Brown really attractive is his hockey IQ and playmaking ability. It’s rare for players at Brown’s age to understand space and touch as well as Brown does. In a developmental stage where everyone wants to wire perfect saucer passes at 70 mph, Brown stands out for his ability to place perfect touch passes into open space for his teammates. Brown’s vision is exceptional and will have you rewinding the tape asking “How did he see that guy” multiple times each night.
Brown needs to work on his consistency. He sees the ice so well that he often passes up on quality chances in order to force a fancy, low percentage play. This can lead to some signifcant droughts in terms of both point production and his general effectiveness on the ice. Additionally, while Brown understands leverage and uses his body well to shield the puck, you’d like to see a player with his world class size be more aggressive physically. Brown wont get bullied by NHLers, but he won’t be able to impact the game with the same ease unless he puts on some muscle and starts initiating more contact himself.

NHL Potential
Because of his size, hockey IQ, and elite passing Logan Brown has drawn comparisons to Joe Thornton and Jaromir Jagr in terms of playstyle, but his offensive potential doesn’t match that of those Hall of Fame legends. Brown projects as a 2nd line power cente, but could overachieve that projection if he finds more snarl.

Expected Draft Position
Logan Brown is widely considered among the top tier of prospects in this year’s draft and many consider him the second best center available in the draft behind Auston Matthews. Brown should come off the board in the first 15 picks. Craig Button and Mckeen’s Hockey are huge fans of the Spitfires’ center and rank him 5th overall, while most other scouts place him in the 8-12 range.

How Prospect Fits in Avalanche Organization
With JT Compher set to graduate to professional hockey this fall, the Avalanche’s only amateur center prospect is Rouyn Noranda’s JC Beaudin. Beaudin has had an exciting season, but there’s no question that the pivot is an enormous point of organizational need. Logan Brown is an enormous body and an excellent skater which follows the mold the Avalanche pursued in AJ Greer and Mikko Rantanen, so he appears an excellent fit for both draft philosophy and organizational need.