Injuries. Time consuming. Patience. Those three words are probably what Ottawa Senators rookie Logan Brown would tell you if you asked him to sum up his career up until recently. Brown, a former first-rounder for the Ottawa Senators, has had his fair share of ups and downs. Now 21-years-old, it’s finally looking like he’s settling into the NHL life.
The Beginning of a Long Road for Logan Brown
Logan Brown was selected by the Ottawa Senators 11th overall in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft. A day he’ll never forget, along with an OHL season of dominance he had just completed. While some analysts were uptight about the Senators’ choice, Logan was their guy to help advance their future. In his draft year, Brown lit the lamp with the Windsor Spitfires of the Ontario Hockey League. He scored 74 points in 59 games, and it seemed like this was just the beginning for the 6’6″ centre.
His next three years turned out to being barricaded with injuries. Playing 59 games in 2015-16, Brown suited up for only 35 regular season games in 2016-17. The next year, he played the first 15 with Windsor, and the remaining 17 were with Kitchener. Only 32 games in 2017-18, and four games with the Ottawa Senators to start the year off. Although scoring above a point-per-game pace throughout the 32 games in 2017-18, Brown was simply not getting enough ice due to injuries derailing his play.
The regular season and Logan Brown weren’t on good terms, but the OHL playoffs in the 2017-18 season is where Brown took off with the Kitchener Rangers. Brown started to look more like himself, and scored 27 points in 19 playoff games. He finished fifth highest in postseason scoring. With brighter circumstances ahead, Brown finally made the move to the AHL in 2018-19.
Defying All Odds, Logan Brown Turned it Around For His Sake
Coming into the following year, it would’ve been silly if people’s expectations for Logan Brown were to take the AHL by storm. Like we said earlier, the guy played 32 regular season games the year prior. That’s not even half an OHL season. The 2018 season started out rough with injuries early on for Logan Brown, but then suddenly a shift in fortunes presented itself. Brown went on a scoring run with another Senators’ prospect Drake Batherson down in Belleville. For what started like a normal season for Logan Brown’s standards, things were starting to look up for the youngster.
Rookie Logan Brown would find himself with 42 points in 56 AHL games last season with the Belleville Senators when it was all said and done. In a pivotal year for his sake and value, and from an evaluation standpoint via the organization, Brown turned it around impressively. For rookie Logan Brown, it was now continuing his success and trying to avoid any injuries that would set back his progress come 2019.
Reviewing Logan Brown’s 2019-20 Season
Although rookie Logan Brown had a fine 2018-19 season, he knew coming into the new campaign that he wouldn’t get a free pass to join the Ottawa Senators roster. Cracking the line-up only to get sent down a week later wasn’t an option. He had to solidify his spot with the Senators.
When preseason wrapped up, Brown definitely did not showcase his skills as some fans thought. It was clear that the 21-year-old still needed time to develop in the AHL. But a light would shine again. Ever since being called up on Oct. 23rd due to the injury of Artem Anisimov, Brown has shown he can stick around. His tenure started in the wrong direction, with another injury that saw him miss six games. But, since coming back from that injury he suffered in the first week of November, Brown has been a pleasant surprise. In his last seven games, he’s scored three points and is averaging 14:14 of TOI.
He’s also seen himself get minutes on the top forward line with Brady Tkachuk and Anthony Duclair. While the scoring isn’t at a point-per-game pace, if you watch Logan Brown play as of recently, you can see intensity. While getting power play TOI also, Brown has looked fine at 5vs5 play against his competition. His massive size allows him to participate in fights for pucks in the corners, while also battling in front of the net. The chemistry between him, Tkachuk and Duclair reeks on the ice. So far, his season could be described as promising. With the avalanche of injuries he’s dealt with, it’s nice to see a player like Brown finally settle in.
Final Word on Logan Brown
At the end of the day, whether the consistency stays straight is said to be unknown. All you can do if you’re Brown or the Senators, is hope for the best and continue the hard work. Whatever it was that brought the spark to Logan Brown’s play, it’s clearly been enjoyable to watch so far for Ottawa.
With Artem Anisimov’s return date TBD, it’s paramount for Brown to not think about the future and stay the course. The time will come when Anisimov returns, and Logan Brown will probably find a way to stick around somehow. If we’re being honest, Anisimov wasn’t blowing anyone out of the water either.
The 21-year-old has clearly found himself a bean bag chair in the NHL as of right now. It’s now about how he handles it going forward. If Logan Brown wants to be a crucial part of the Senators rebuild, he’s just gotta keep on doing what he’s doing.
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