Tampa Bay Lightning Mailbag: Could J.T. Brown Be Moved This Season?

Welcome to this week’s Bolts By The Bay Mailbag, the place where we take any questions you may have about the Tampa Bay Lightning and give you answers.

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Devonte asks: Could J.T. Brown be moved by the trade deadline or off-season if he has the same year?

I talked a few months ago about how J.T. Brown is an unsung hero for the Tampa Bay Lightning. To this day I stand by the assessment. He has all the tools to be a solid third line checking forward that can put 10-15 pucks in the back of the net per year, but Brown’s offensive game has yet to come into fruition just yet.

Whenever you watched a Tampa Bay Lightning game, one thing you notice throughout the game is J.T. Brown speeding into the offensive zone to pressure the opposing defender on the forecheck. More times than not, this leads to a turnover or a bad outlet pass that turns into an icing call.

Brown’s game goes well with the likes of Brian Boyle, Cedric Paquette, and newly acquired forward Erik Condra. Brown has the speed on the wing that centers like Boyle and Paquette like to get the puck to on the wing. Being the physical player he is, the combination of Brown and Condra on the team’s fourth line will make it very difficult for the opposition to get the puck out of their own zone.

However, with all the things Brown offers you on the ice, you have to take a look at this from two different perspectives. J.T. Brown is a very solid bottom-six forward for the Tampa Bay Lightning right now, but is there a potential upgrade coming up through the minor league system sometime soon? The answer to that question is yes.

As if there were not enough pressure on Brown to up his already solid level of play, the amount of talented prospects the organization has that will soon make their way to the NHL roster makes Brown’s roster spot that much more in jeopardy.

Players like Adam Erne, Matthew Peca, and Jonathan Marchessault are just three of the talented prospects the organization has down at the farm in Syracuse, New York. You would have to think Erne and Peca will spend most of next season with the Crunch, but Marchessault is an interesting option that could find himself in a Lightning uniform sooner than later (that is if they can get him through waivers first).

Marchessualt doesn’t have J.T. Brown speed, but he has enough speed to pressure defenders into turnovers and bad passes just like Brown does. Other than that, their games are pretty identical other than Brown is more physical and Marchessualt is a better overall scorer.

You also have players like Vladislav Namestnikov and Jonathan Drouin that will be in the lineup consistently. Though Cooper has said how much of an asset Brown can be, players with added scoring punch like Vladdy and Drouin still will be in the lineup more times than not especially if Drouin can improve his play in the defensive zone.

I believe J.T. Brown is an important piece on this team and will play a key role in getting the team back to the Stanley Cup Finals. His contract will expire following the 2015-16 season and there are plenty of talented prospects that will be looking to grab an NHL roster spot with the Lightning. Brown will need to increase his offensive production like I know he is capable of doing while continuing to play a sound defensive game in order to be in the organizations future plans.

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