NHL Draft: 'High hockey IQ' could vault Logan Brown into top 10

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Logan Brown believes it’s unfair to criticize him for not being overly physical or a big, bruising power forward type despite his 6’6, 220 lbs. frame.

“I take a little bit of offense to that. I’m 6’6 and a half, I’m not going to throw on a lot of muscle,” Brown said. “I might not have the legs that the little 5’9 waterbugs have, they’re flying around out there. They don’t get tired. I’m a big guy. It’s just going to take a little bit of time for me to get my legs under me.”

Brown hit the gym more during the second half of this past season with the Windsor Spitfires of the OHL. The extra time there worked as the centerman ended the year second in scoring on the team with 21 goals and 74 points. The workouts have extended in the off-season after he hooked up with Ottawa Senators strength coach Chris Schwarz.

“I really realized the effect that it has on my game and the way that it helps me,” he said.

While Brown works on bulking up, he doesn’t need to work on his confidence one bit. He describes himself as possessing elite hockey sense, with a knack for creating out on the ice. He added that he can change his game from style to style, whether it’s a grinding one or a speed one.

"He is a kid with unlimited potential, good size, a lot of skill and a high hockey IQ," Spitfires GM Warren Rychel told NHL.com in February. "A player like Logan is hard to find."

Brown put up 12 points in seven games in helping Team USA win gold at the U-18 World Championships in April. That finish helped him end the year ranked as the No. 7 skater in NHL Central Scouting’s rankings, up from 14 on the midseason list. It also has him expected to be selected somewhere between the sixth and tenth overall pick in the draft.

"He's still growing, which is amazing because he's already big as it is," said Dan Marr, head of NHL Central Scouting. "His skating has developed and I just think it will take a little more time for the rest of it to catch up to his body. When he has the confidence and assertiveness to play to his size and play a little more selfishly, then his numbers will rise and good things will begin to happen.”

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Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Sean_Leahy

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