Lightning Sign Former First-Round Pick to PTO
![Mar 2, 2023; San Jose, California, USA; St. Louis Blues center Logan Brown (22) skates on the ice before the game against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center at San Jose. Mandatory Credit: Robert Edwards-USA TODAY Sports Mar 2, 2023; San Jose, California, USA; St. Louis Blues center Logan Brown (22) skates on the ice before the game against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center at San Jose. Mandatory Credit: Robert Edwards-USA TODAY Sports](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_4643,h_2611,x_0,y_69/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/breakaway_on_si/01j5axd3k2zsqhnefkcc.jpg)
As the opening of free agency in the NHL gets further in the rearview, players who are still available are looking for chances and may have to join teams on professional tryout offers (PTO). That seems to be the case for the first reported PTO signing of the offseason with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
According to St. Louis Blues rinkside reporter Andy Strickland, the Lightning are signing forward Logan Brown to a PTO. Brown missed the entire 2023-24 season thanks to hip surgery.
Former Ottawa 1st rounder Logan Brown is headed to Tampa Bay on a PTO. Been training in Toronto all summer living with #stlblues winger Jordan Kyrou. Fully healthy following hip surgery, has a good opportunity to earn a contract. #GoBolts
— Andy Strickland (@andystrickland) August 15, 2024
Brown most recently played with the Blues for two seasons between 2021 and 2023. Strickland notes that Brown lived and worked out with Blues forward Jordan Kyrou preparing for another crack at the NHL.
Brown is a former first-round pick (11th overall) of the Ottawa Senators in 2016, but he hasn’t had much luck finding his footing in the NHL. At 26 years old, Brown still has time to reach a team and live up to his first-round pedigree.
Spanned over six seasons, Brown has appeared in 99 total NHL games. He scored seven goals and 19 assists for 26 total points in that time and has been bounced between the NHL and American Hockey League with the Senators and Blues.
Between the Belleville Senators and Springfield Thunderbirds, Brown has played 115 games at the AHL level, scoring 98 points (29G-69A).
Prior to the missed 2023-24 season, Brown signed a one-year deal with the Lightning but was placed on injured reserve before the start of the year. At the time, it was listed as an undisclosed injury that kept him out of the lineup.
This will be Brown’s second chance to make the Lightning roster. The openings in their lineup are limited, but Brown has a chance to surprise and earn a role as a depth option on one of the strongest teams in the Eastern Conference.