The Senators’ decision to move up for Logan Brown in the 2016 draft still stands out a decade later, and not because it worked out the way anyone in Ottawa hoped.
Back then, the organization was so eager to get Brown that Pierre Dorion, only a couple of months into his run as general manager, paid a third-round pick to jump from 12th to 11th and beat the New Jersey Devils to the punch. Ottawa had convinced itself enough to act early on the 6-foot-6 Windsor Spitfires centre, a player they viewed as a major piece for the future.
At the time, the appeal was obvious. Brown had put up 74 points in 59 games with Windsor in his draft year, and players with that kind of size and skill don’t come around every day. The Senators clearly believed they were getting a potential cornerstone.
Instead, the next several years became a grind. Injuries kept interrupting his development, and skating remained a work in progress even when he was on the ice.
Over four seasons in Ottawa, he managed only 30 NHL games. In 2019, after the Senators cut him from training camp, his agent Andy Scott made his frustration clear.
"I can say with full confidence, that I've really never seen another player met with such resistance by the team that drafted them early in the first round," Scott told TSN 1200 radio.
Scott also argued that Ottawa’s rebuilding message didn’t match the way the club handled young players, saying the Senators were promoting "The Kids are All Right" while not really giving those kids the chance to play.
Brown did appear in 23 games for Ottawa that season and scored 8 points. He also produced in Belleville, posting 28 points in 25 games, but even that stretch was cut short by injury.
The Senators eventually moved on in 2021, trading Brown to the St. Louis Blues during training camp for forward Zach Sanford.
That change looked like it might give him a clean slate, especially since St. Louis was where he spent much of his childhood.
He had his busiest NHL stretch there. Brown played a career-high 39 games for the Blues in 2021-22 and finished with 11 points, then added another 30 games in 2022-23, scoring two goals and six points. Those were the last NHL games he has played.
Since then, his career has been defined by brief stops and more injury trouble. He signed a one-year deal with Tampa in the summer of 2023, but injuries wiped out his entire 2023-24 season.
The next year, he signed an AHL contract with Syracuse and bounced back with 29 points in 33 games. That earned him another chance, as Los Angeles signed him to a one-year, two-way deal in July 2025.
He played 29 games for Ontario and had 14 points.
Brown is now an unrestricted free agent.
Looking back at the pick is easy in hindsight, but there are a couple of reasons this one still stings more than most. Ottawa gave up a third-round pick just to move up one spot, and there were still some significant names on the board.
Charlie McAvoy went three picks later, 14th overall, to Boston, and became a hard-edged defender with more than 570 NHL games and more than 350 points. Tage Thompson was also still available, and while he took five years to emerge, he has become a star as well.
And the comparison doesn’t stop there. If you judge the class by NHL games played, almost every first-rounder from that draft has outlasted Brown, who has 99 NHL games to his name.
Even so, this wasn’t some outrageous swing at the time. Brown was a well-regarded prospect with a rare blend of size and skill, and Ottawa wasn’t alone in believing he could become an impact player.
He’s still only 28, so the story isn’t necessarily finished. But 10 years after Ottawa made the bet, the Senators are still left wondering what might have been.
In Other News...
Ottawa's Goalie Pipeline Has Another Name Senators Fans Should Track
Lucas Beckman has quietly become another name worth tracking in Ottawas goaltending pipeline. Drafted 97th overall, the young netminder first broke in with Baie-Comeau Drakkar before a move to Chicoutimi gave him a bigger stage, stronger numbers and a role in a team that was pushing for a QMJHL championship. For the Senators, that kind of development path matters, especially with a goalie who is already on the organizations radar as a possible future NHL option.
Beckmans rise has also come with more movement, as he was later dealt to Cape Breton as the Eagles look ahead to the 2027 QMJHL season. He signed his entry-level deal with Ottawa in April, but his return to junior means the contract will slide for now, leaving the Senators to keep watching while he continues to build his game. For a franchise always searching for long-term certainty in net, Beckman is the sort of prospect who can stay on the radar without needing to force the issue just yet. [Read more 🡒]