Brian Lawton

Brian Robert Lawton (born June 29, 1965) is an American former professional ice hockey player, agent and general manager, who played 483 regular season games in the National Hockey League (NHL) between the 1983–84 and 1992–93 seasons. Drafted first overall by the Minnesota North Stars in the 1983 NHL entry draft, Lawton played for the North Stars, New York Rangers, Hartford Whalers, Quebec Nordiques, Boston Bruins and San Jose Sharks, and was the Tampa Bay Lightning general manager. He was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey and raised in Cumberland, Rhode Island.

Playing career After playing for the U.S. Junior Hockey Team at the World Junior Ice Hockey Championships in 1983, and leading his high school, Mount Saint Charles Academy in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, to consecutive championships, He was also the first and, as of 2024, the only US high school hockey player to be drafted first overall.

Lawton was ranked by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau as the top prospect for the 1983 Entry Draft. His NHL career included 266 career points in 483 games. Lawton played his first couple of years in Minnesota, and split his second season between the North Stars and their American Hockey League affiliate, the Springfield Indians. In 1983, Lawton was training with the U.S. National Hockey Team, but unlike other North Stars prospects, Lawton was encouraged to turn professional ahead of the 1984 Winter Olympics, and though he did later play in the 1984 Canada Cup, missed the extra experience playing in Sarajevo would have afforded him. but changed to number 8 after two seasons owing to unwelcome comparisons to Wayne Gretzky's number 99. Lawton set a mark for the North Stars franchise for fastest two goals scored by a rookie, at 19 seconds, in 1983. After five seasons with Minnesota, Lawton had not scored more than 44 points in any season, and the North Stars apparently washed their hands of him, attempting to assign him to their affiliate in Kalamazoo, Michigan. When Lawton refused to report, the North Stars traded him to the New York Rangers in October 1988.

Post-playing career Lawton retired as a player in 1993, after being traded to the New Jersey Devils by San Jose, At times representing players such as Mike Modano, Sergei Fedorov and Ryan Malone, Lawton became Octagon's managing director for hockey, helping Octagon expand their hockey client base and becoming the second-largest hockey agency in the NHL. Feaster himself indicated in his official announcement that Lawton had already been running the team with Koules and Barrie. Lawton was officially named as general manager and executive vice president on October 2, 2008. Among the earliest moves Lawton made with the Tampa organization were hiring Tom Kurvers and Greg Malone to front office positions, the latter of whom is the son of Greg Malone, and was also a client of Lawton's when he was an agent. Ultimately, Steve Yzerman, a former client of Lawton's and drafted three picks behind him, was named as the new general manager.

In 2018, Lawton was inducted into the Rhode Island Hockey Hall of Fame. He is formerly an on-air analyst for the NHL Network.

He married Angelina Lawton, formerly Angelina Rahn in 1992. They currently reside in Minneapolis, Minnesota and have three children. Angelina is the CEO of sports/tech agency, Sportsdigita.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1981–82 Mount Saint Charles Academy HS-RI 26 45 43 88 — — — — — — 1982–83 Mount Saint Charles Academy HS-RI 23 40 43 83 — — — — — — 1982–83 United States Intl 7 3 2 5 6 — — — — — 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 Hartford Whalers NHL 13 2 1 3 6 — — — — — 1989–90 Quebec Nordiques NHL 14 5 6 11 10 — — — — — 1989–90 Maine Mariners AHL 5 0 0 0 14 — — — — — 1989–90 Boston Bruins NHL 8 0 0 0 14 — — — — — 1990–91 Phoenix Roadrunners IHL 63 26 40 66 108 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

International Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM 1983 United States WJC 7 3 1 4 6 1984 United States CC 6 5 0 5 4 1987 United States WC 8 3 3 6 14 Junior totals 7 3 1 4 6 Senior totals 14 8 3 11 18