Tampa Bay Lightning Year In Review: J.T. Brown

The offseason continues on as Tampa Bay Lightning fans look towards the upcoming 2015-16 season. Before we close the books on the 2014-15 season once and for all, let’s take a look at the season of Lightning right wing J.T. Brown.

If there was ever a player in Tampa Bay Lightning history that has made us want to pull out our hair and scream at the top of our lungs, that player is young Tampa Bay Lightning right wing J.T. Brown.

J.T. Brown is filled to capacity with potential, but he is one of those players who has seemingly fallen victim to the dreaded notion of not being able to tap into said potential on the bigger stage; that being the National Hockey League.

After going undrafted, Brown first came to the Tampa Bay Lightning in March of 2012 when he signed a two-year entry level contract with the team. The young Minnesota native would spent his first season as a professional hockey player with the Lightning’s American Hockey League affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch.

In his first season he would play in 51 games with the Syracuse Crunch. In that amount of time, Brown was able to score 10 goals and 18 assists for a total of 28 points. The very next season Brown would get his first taste of action on NHL ice.

J.T. Brown would make his NHL debut on November 12, 2013 as the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Montreal Canadiens in a shootout at the Bell Centre in Montreal. While Brown would find himself spending a little bit of time on the Crunch roster that season, the next season he would once again find himself on the Lightning’s main roster for a decent chunk of the season.

Unfortunately, in the two seasons that Brown has been on the main roster he has yet to reach the scoring potential he displayed in his first season with the Syracuse Crunch. In fact, when you add both seasons together you reach the exact point total he scored with the Crunch in the 2012-13 season with the Crunch.

This is where the frustration herein lies. How could someone with so much speed, talent, and ability simply not be able to break through and make a similar impact on the main roster as they had in the AHL? While we digress that these two stages are completely different, one would expect there to be some sort of translation here.

The curious case of J.T. Brown reminds us a lot of the similar story of one Brett Connolly. Unfortunately, Connolly’s story didn’t have much of a happy ending when it came to his future with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Hopefully, J.T. Brown will be able to turn things around before something similar happens to him.

After the conclusion of the 2015-16 season, J.T. Brown is set to become a Restricted Free Agent. The performance he puts on this season could have a pretty severe impact on what happens once his contract expires.

If Brown has another lackluster season, Tampa Bay Lightning Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman could attempt to use him as trade bait to acquire another useful asset like he did with Connolly. Much like last season was for Connolly, the 2015-16 season could be a make or break for J.T. Brown.

It won’t be long now before all of the pieces will be in their proper places and the Tampa Bay Lightning will be ready to take the ice for the 2015-16 season and start their next journey towards the Stanley Cup. It will be interesting to see if J.T. Brown rises to the occasion or fades into oblivion during the Free Agency period. We guess we’ll have to wait and see.

What did you think of J.T. Brown’s performance in the 2014-15 season? What do you think the future holds of the young Lightning forward? What will Brown have to do to secure his future with the Tampa Bay Lightning? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Next: Tampa Bay Lightning: Top 5 Can’t Miss Games of 2015-16

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