Brian Lawton

[The Panther]

Brian Lawton, an American forward, the 1st overall pick in 1983 to Minnesota. By 1st-overall pick standards, his career was a bust, though he did get in 483 NHL games divided over nine seasons.

(very 80's-looking guy!)


So, in the first place, I don't really get why The North Stars picked him at 1st overall. I realize it's easy to look back at these pre-digital video days' drafts and rip the choices apart, but still... er, I don't get it.

Lawton's resume in summer 1983 was that he had played for... a high school in Rhode Island. And he went 1st overall...???

Okay, he played at the World Juniors the winter prior, scoring 4 points in 7 games, but that doesn't suggest he was a future phenom or anything.

You maybe give him a pass on his rookie season in Minny because he was barely 18, still at high school age really, and did put up 31 points in 58 games on a pretty good club (and only 3 points on the PP), so you'd tend to think, "Well, he's too young, so let's see what he can do next year."

So, then in 1984-85, he was demoted to the AHL for half the season. He scored exactly 1 point per game in the AHL, which probably isn't as good as North Stars' brass were hoping to see.

However, Lawton did then have about five reasonably productive seasons from 1985-86 though 1989-90. He scored around 2 points every 3 games for this period. Unfortunately, he was regularly getting injured (it appears) and the North Stars from 1987 were heading into the crapper. Lawton was sent to the Rangers for a couple cups of coffee in 1988-89, and from there to Hartford and historically-bad Quebec, by 1990. Tough luck! The Bruins gave him 8 games towards the end of that season (Boston was 1st overall that year), but he never scored a point. I read that L.A. (?) acquired his rights that summer, but he never played for them.

By 1990-91, Lawton (aged 25) was in the IHL. But NHL expansion threw him a bone and he came back in 1991-92 to play for San Jose for a season and a half. That was it for his big-League career.

He appeared in the playoffs three times, scoring 1 goal in 12 games.

We can look back and chuckle at the North Stars' unfortunate choice of Lawton at 1st overall now (they could have had Yzerman, Lafontaine, Barrasso, Neely), but apparently the NHL Central Scouting Bureau also had Lawton rated as the top prospect in '83. I must say, though (again) -- I DON'T GET IT.

Why on earth would he have been rated as the top prospect when all he had done was play high school? And if a team wanted an 18-year-old scorer (and if you wanted an American player), why not draft Lafontaine, who had outscored Mario Lemieux in the Q in 1982 and then scored 234 points in 1983?

I can think of a couple of things working in Lawton's favor at this precise moment:
-- The previous NHL season, Bobby Carpenter had stepped right in out of high school and fared pretty well. That may have opened up the idea that US high school-ers could do that.
-- Lawton, while not big or physical, was at least bigger than Lafontaine. And there did seem to be a stigma against QMJHL players' scoring feats in the late 70s (Bossy) and early 80s...

Is it also possible that the North Stars wanted a top prospect who would step right in as a full-time player? Lafontaine wanted to play for the US Olympic team, and could that have scared off a team or two...? I dunno. Seems weird, if it did.

Still, I don't get it. And Yzerman had just scored 91 points in 56 games in the much tougher (than Rhode Island high schools, lol!) OHL, while Sylvain Turgeon had scored 163 points in the Q.

Then, about Lawton: I don't really remember seeing him play. Was he any good at the NHL level? The stats suggest he was a competent 2nd/3rd-line player.

One statistical point does jump out at me: At the 1984 Canada Cup, 19-year-old Lawton scored 5 goals in 6 games for the USA. Now, I don't know the context, but that sounds awfully good. The North Stars' management must have seen that and though, "Wow! This second season, he's really gonna break out...!". Nope.

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[Sticks and Pucks]

I think the Bobby Carpenter factor played a pretty big role. People probably did not know at the time that a top high school prospect could bust. It wasn't until 1981 where 18 year old high school players could be drafted into the NHL. Before that you had to be 19 or 20 to be drafted. The fact that one of them struck gold right away probably made people want to look for the next Carpenter. Then Phil Housley goes 6th overall in 1982 and has a great rookie season. Brian Lawton dominated high school hockey much like Carpenter did. So it's not hard to see that scouts would have thought Lawton could have the same impact. Remember that Tom Barrasso, another high school prospect, also went in the top 5 that year.

I don't think people became wary of high school prospects until Lawton and some subsequent first rounders busted. Even so, scouts still weren't afraid to take Brian Leetch in the top 10 three years later. These days, top American prospects get wooed into the USHL or major junior so the top high school prospects aren't that great. But it wasn't always like this.

 

[Look Up]

Here's a very interesting discussion with Brian Lawton discussing being #1 overall pick and how difficult the transition was for a high schooler to the NHL. Worth the time to watch.

 

[tarheelhockey]

I think the Bobby Carpenter factor played a pretty big role. People probably did not know at the time that a top high school prospect could bust. It wasn't until 1981 where 18 year old high school players could be drafted into the NHL. Before that you had to be 19 or 20 to be drafted. The fact that one of them struck gold right away probably made people want to look for the next Carpenter. Then Phil Housley goes 6th overall in 1982 and has a great rookie season. Brian Lawton dominated high school hockey much like Carpenter did. So it's not hard to see that scouts would have thought Lawton could have the same impact. Remember that Tom Barrasso, another high school prospect, also went in the top 5 that year.

I don't think people became wary of high school prospects until Lawton and some subsequent first rounders busted. Even so, scouts still weren't afraid to take Brian Leetch in the top 10 three years later. These days, top American prospects get wooed into the USHL or major junior so the top high school prospects aren't that great. But it wasn't always like this.

The NBA certainly went through this as well. Everyone wanted the next Kobe, Garnett superstar to come directly out of high school. But the quality of those players dropped off really sharply after the top 5 or 10 (over a very long period) and there were a ton of busts we don't remember at all. After a while, the consensus turned around to the idea that a bit of seasoning was really better for the player and team, rather than gambling on immediate impact.

 

[hacksaw7]

I remember watching him play and just wondering, what's so special about him? How did he go so high. Very little if any flashes of greatness...you'd see it sometimes with Daigle and his ilk. But Lawton just always looked kind of like a project 3rd/4th rounder destined to float around a few teams for 400-500 games and then disappear. Which he did

 

[decma]

Most pre-draft articles had it at Lawton and Lafontaine as the consensus 1 and 2 with Lafontaine ahead until a few weeks before the draft. I am also baffled as to why it would even be close. Lafontaine's junior stats were remarkable, and are among the best for draft eligible seasons over the past 40 years, even controlling for league and scoring level (of course back in 1983 this wouldn't have been as apparent, with so few years of data since the draft age was moved to 18).

Lafontaine's lack of size was likely also a factor in him not being the consensus #1 (not that Lawton was big, but he had 2 inches on Lafontaine).

In any case, for whatever reasons, they were considered the consensus 1 and 2, and lots of teams were trying to move into the top 2 to get a chance at one of them.

E.g,, from an April 18 NYT article:

According to Bob Crocker, the assistant director of hockey operations for Hartford, the first two players chosen will be Pat Lafontaine, a center with Verdun in the Quebec League, and Brian Lawton, a center with Mount St. Charles Academy in Woonsocket, R.I.

''I know, in all probability, we'll take one or the other,'' said Crocker. ''If Minnesota takes Lafontaine, then we'll take Lawton. And the opposite is true, too. They are both fine players.''

Torrey will then narrow the Islander choice to four players. They include two centers, Steve Yzerman of Peterborough in the Ontario League, and Sylvain Turgeon of Hull in the Quebec League. The other two are right wings, Andrew Mcbain of North Bay in the Ontario League and Norm Lacombe of the University of New Hampshire.


And from a UPI article from right after the draft:

Nanne, who acquired the first pick in a trade with Pittsburgh, said the chance to draft Lawton or Detroit native Pat LaFontaine had nearly all the league general managers making offers at the four-day NHL meetings preceeding the draft.
He said only an offer of two first-round choices by the New York Islanders came close to tempting him.

I can't find the article now, but I recall reading that shortly before the draft Hfd had requested that Lafontaine take a medical (Hfd was concerned about an allergy issue that required Lafontaine to take periodic injections), but Lafontaine refused the medical. This is what caused Hfd to pass on Lafontaine and take Turgeon (who had agreed to a medical).

The NYI, who were set to take McBain, were shocked, and pounced on Lafontaine.

 

[MS]

I think a few things came into play, some of which have been covered :

1) The explosion of hockey in the US in the early 1980s following the Miracle On Ice was a huge thing. Almost overnight it went from there being only a few journeyman Americans in the NHL in the mid-1970s to almost every team having a top US player by the early-mid 1980s. And continuing on from that, these prep-school stars were also this new and exciting thing that I don't think scouts had fully figured out yet. Bobby Carpenter and Phil Housley had walked straight into the NHL as stars in the two years prior and I think there was probably a feeling that there was this amazing new pipeline and that the top USHS players were always going to walk into the NHL in this way.

2) Lawton looked and acted the part. Handsome, well-spoken kid, good size, good athlete. Obviously later went on to become a lawyer/agent/GM. Had 'star quality' to him.

3) Lawton wasn't actually that bad. He was able to walk into the NHL and score at a 45-point pace at 18. He averaged about 50 points/80 GP from 1985-89 aged 20-24. Injuries and the pressure of being a 'bust' probably contributed to the premature end of his career. But you can see where a guy who was good enough to play in the NHL at 18 might have looked better than he actually was dominating against bad HS kids.

Basically Lawton was probably a guy who on merit should have gone in the 6-12 range of the draft - which is still very good - but went too high because teams didn't have a great grasp on the level he was playing at, and because he seemed to look the part and fit some of the exciting trends happening in the NHL at the time.

In retrospect it looks ludicrous that Lafontaine wasn't the consensus #1 overall by a wide margin.

 

[Sanf]

I have only seen him as Shark mainly. I don´t think he was that bad, but when Sharks started to replace their serviceable low end NHL veterans Lawton was one of those who was thrown out. He was actually traded to Devils, but retired shortly after.

And you are correct he was with Kings before Sharks. Had actually decent camp. In last pre-season game 1 goal and 2 assists. Played even PP with Gretzky and Robitaille. But then was sent to minors. I can remember that his defense was said to be suspect. So maybe suffered from that. Not enough offense to top lines and too little defense to lower ones.

I haven´t seen him or made research on his early career so I think others have covered that pretty well. I know he asked trade on his third season as 20 year old. But I do not believe he had any attitude problems. Maybe too much too soon with additions of preasure may have hurt his career a bit.

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

Mount Saint Charles is slightly more than "a high school in RI" when it comes to hockey.

It's a hockey factory that routinely gets top players from around New England and Canada.

It has produced 8 NHL'ers: Lawton, Boucher, Carney, Guay, Jillson, Berard, Schneider, Snow.

Their former patriarch is in the US Hockey HOF, Bill Belisle.

Really they're the reason RI is the answer to the trivia question "which state has produced the most 1st overall picks"

 

[Big Phil]

In retrospect it looks ludicrous that Lafontaine wasn't the consensus #1 overall by a wide margin.

Me too. Basically Lawton was putting up the same points per game in high school as Lafontaine was in the QMJHL. Now, I can sort of see why Sylvain Turgeon got the love he got at #2. He racked up a 163 point season in his draft year, had more penalty minutes, was two inches taller than Lafontaine and perhaps they felt he was a little more involved in the action. But 234 points in your draft year? Wow. Lafontaine going 3rd is still surprising. Yzerman obviously the best talent in this draft, had a good but not overwhelming draft year in the OHL. So I can see why he isn't #1. Barrasso as well goes #5.

But the 1983 draft was a pretty good one in the first round. It is easy for us to judge now, but Cam Neely, Dave Gagner, John MacLean, Russ Courtnall, all are 1st rounders the Northstars would have been better off picking.

Granted, I just think regardless of era there are times the scouts just make mistakes. Or the player picked doesn't have the motivation or discipline to play with grown men. The 1990 draft comes to mind as well. Jagr at 5th? Then in the 1990s you have Daigle and Stefan. Rick Dipietro was not a good choice in 2000 either. Erik Johnson goes #1 overall when you have Jonathan Toews right there? Yeah, it happened.

In modern times too. There was plenty of warnings about Nail Yakupov. I don't know if there has ever been a #1 overall pick that you figured was going to backfire more than him, even as they were picking him. I can remember his reaction after his 1st NHL goal, and to be honest that's all I remember about him. I'll bet the Oilers wish they took Morgan Rielly instead. Cale Makar and Elias Pettersson right there instead of Nico Hischier at #1 in 2017? Yeah, you get it. Scouts make mistakes.

 

[The Panther]

Mount Saint Charles is slightly more than "a high school in RI" when it comes to hockey.

It's a hockey factory that routinely gets top players from around New England and Canada.

It has produced 8 NHL'ers: Lawton, Boucher, Carney, Guay, Jillson, Berard, Schneider, Snow.

Their former patriarch is in the US Hockey HOF, Bill Belisle.

Really they're the reason RI is the answer to the trivia question "which state has produced the most 1st overall picks"

Ha! Okay, I didn't know any of that, so good to read.

 

[ThorTilen]

Article looks legit.