Brian Lawton
Brian R. Lawton ( born June 29, 1965 in New Brunswick, New Jersey ) is a retired American professional ice hockey player ( left wing ), who from 1983 to 1993 for the Minnesota North Stars, New York Rangers, Hartford Whalers, Quebec Nordiques, Boston Bruins and San Jose Sharks played in the National Hockey League. Most recently, he served as executive vice president and general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Career
As a junior he played for the high school team of the Mount St. Charles Mounties. For the U.S. junior national team he joined in 1983 at the Junior World Cup. Brian Lawton was selected in the NHL Entry Draft in 1983 as a First overall draft pick of the Minnesota North Stars. He was the first high school player who has been in draft drawn first.
In his rookie season 1983/84 he played tidy and came up with 31 points after a disappointing second season he brought it over the next three seasons, each 35 to 45 points.
For the 1988/89 season he was handed over to the Rangers, but already during the year he moved again, this time to the Hartford Whalers. Especially the next season, which he began in Hartford again, earned him a short stint with the Quebec Nordiques, before he played eight games for the Boston Bruins.
There followed a year in the International Hockey League with the Phoenix Roadrunners before the new team of the San Jose Sharks to secure his services for 1991/92 season. Two years he was with the Sharks, but was also repeatedly used in the IHL farm team Kansas City Blades and Cincinnati Cyclones.
In 1993, he ended his career and was Player's agent. He founded his own agency Lawton Sport and Financial, which he carried with Mike Liut. After he had his agency sold to Octagon Athlete Represantation 1998, Lawton was Chairman of the Hockey department of the company. Among his clients was one among others Sergei Fedorov.
In summer 2008, he left the Octagon and was vice president of the business of Hockey Tampa Bay Lightning before he was appointed general manager a few months later. After a change of ownership Lawton was released in April 2010 together with head coach Rick Tocchet.