Express Draft Pick - Nate Brown

Player Profile - Nate Brown - 5'10"/170lbs - Defenseman


1991 birth year from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh which is also the same hometown of current Express forward Brian McGinty. He was a teammate of Express forward Josh Daley while playing mites in the Pittsburgh area. Nate played in the Pittsburgh Hornets Midget Major AAA program before leaving for more competitive hockey in the Detroit area. In 06/07 he played on the Honeybaked U16 team, tallying 4 goals, 8 assists, and 45 penalty minutes in 30 games. He moved up to the Team nXi U18 program for the 07/08 season, playing in 26 games, and scoring 2 goals, with 3 assists and 49 penalty minutes. Last season he played with the S2 U18 program (same as nXi, but the name was changed), scoring 11 goals and 19 assists, with 106 penalty minutes in 45 games.

Nate was drafted by the Sioux City Musketeers in the 2nd round (24th overall) of the 2008 USHL Futures Draft, and spent the 2008/09 season on the Musketeers' affiliate list. He was also drafted by the Mahoning Valley Phantoms in the 2008 NAHL Entry Draft, but did not play any games with the Phantoms last season.


My take: As with most non-Minnesota kids, I don't know a whole lot about Mr. Brown. One source I talked to, who had seen Nate play a couple of years ago stated he was a "rugged, stay-at-home defenseman". However, when I looked at his stats from last season, it appears he has found a scoring touch, as he tallied 30 points last season in the very tough MWEHL. The College Hockey Recruit Exchange Blog rated Nate as the MWEHL's #2 Offensive-Defensman prospect, in their April 17, 2009 rankings which you can peruse here: http://collegehockeyrecruitexchange.blogspot.com/2009/04/mwehl-midget-major-prospect-rankings.html .

It will be interesting to watch Nate at tryout camp in 10 days. How will a good defenseman from a Midget Major program stack up against a good defenseman from the Minnesota State High School League?? The competition for the few open defenseman spots on the 2009/10 Express roster will be fierce, and Nate should definitely be in the mix.

Welcome to Owatonna Nate Brown.

See you at the rink.

--BK