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Brian Lawton
Brianlawton
Position Left Wing
Shot Left
Nickname(s) Notch
Height
Weight
6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
180 lb (82 kg)
Teams Minnesota North Stars (19831988)
New York Rangers (1988)
Hartford Whalers (19881989)
Quebec Nordiques (1989–1990)
Boston Bruins (1990)
San Jose Sharks (19911993)
Nationality Flag of the United States American
Born (1965-01-29)January 29, 1965,
New Brunswick, New Jersey, U.S.
NHL Draft 1st overall, 1983
Minnesota North Stars
Pro Career 1983 – 1993


Brian R. Lawton (born June 29, 1965 in New Brunswick, New Jersey and raised in Cumberland, Rhode Island) is the current general manager and executive vice president of the Tampa Bay Lightning. He was also a former professional player and player agent who played 483 games in the NHL between 1983 and 1992. During his career, Lawton played for the North Stars, New York Rangers, Hartford Whalers, Quebec Nordiques, Boston Bruins and San Jose Sharks.

Playing career[]

He was drafted number one overall by the Minnesota North Stars in the 1983 NHL Entry Draft. A graduate of Mount Saint Charles Academy in Woonsocket, RI, Lawton is noted for being the first US-born hockey player drafted first overall in the NHL draft. He was also the first and, as of 2008, only US high school hockey player to be drafted first overall.

Lawton was ranked by NHL Central Scouting Bureau as No. 1 overall prospect for the 1983 NHL draft, and despite a reasonable NHL career that included 266 career points in 483 games, he is considered to be one of the biggest draft busts in NHL history. This is in part because he was drafted ahead of players such as Steve Yzerman, Cam Neely, Tom Barrasso, Stu Grimson and Pat LaFontaine.

In international hockey, Lawton played for the United States national team in the 1983 and 1987 Ice Hockey World Championship tournaments as well as the 1984 Canada Cup.

He was the only NHL player to ever wear #98. After retiring in 1993, Lawton went on to become a player agent representing NHL talent such as Mike Modano and R.J. Umberger.

Career statistics[]

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1983–84 Minnesota North Stars NHL 58 10 21 31 33 5 0 0 0 10
1984–85 Minnesota North Stars NHL 40 5 6 11 24
1984–85 Springfield Indians AHL 42 14 28 42 37 4 1 1 2 2
1985–86 Minnesota North Stars NHL 65 18 17 35 36 3 0 1 1 2
1986–87 Minnesota North Stars NHL 66 21 23 44 86
1987–88 Minnesota North Stars NHL 74 17 24 41 71
1988–89 New York Rangers NHL 30 7 10 17 39
1988–89 Hartford Whalers NHL 35 10 16 26 28 3 1 0 1 0
1989–90 Maine Mariners AHL 5 0 0 0 14
1989–90 Hartford Whalers NHL 13 2 1 3 6
1989–90 Quebec Nordiques NHL 14 5 6 11 10
1989–90 Boston Bruins NHL 8 0 0 0 14
1990–91 Phoenix Roadrunners IHL 63 26 40 86 108 11 4 9 13 40
1991–92 San Jose Sharks NHL 59 15 22 37 42
1992–93 Kansas City Blades IHL 9 6 4 10 10
1992–93 San Jose Sharks NHL 21 2 8 10 12
1992–93 Cincinnati Cyclones IHL 17 5 11 16 30
NHL totals 483 112 154 266 401 11 1 1 2 12


References[]

Preceded by
Gord Kluzak
NHL First Overall Draft Pick
1983
Succeeded by
Mario Lemieux
Minnesota North Stars/Dallas Stars first-round draft picks
Minnesota: CheesmanBenzelockRedmondByersHicksBryan MaxwellSharpleyBrad MaxwellSmithHartsburgMcCarthyPalmerMeighanBellowsLawtonQuinnBabeArchibaldModanoZmolekHatcherMatvichuk
Dallas: HarveyBotterillIginlaJackmanMorrowOttBacashihuaVagnerFistricNiskanenVishnevskiy
This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Brian Lawton. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Ice Hockey Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA).


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