Logan Brown's World Junior tournament was cut short due to an injury but the Sens' 2016 first-round pick is primed for a big second half of the season after being dealt to the Kitchener Rangers.

Brown surprised a few people back in the fall when he made the Senators' roster out of training camp and would stick with the team for their first 9 games before being returned to the Windsor Spitfires on October 25th.
"It was a dream come true," recalled Browm. "I grew up dreaming about playing in the NHL and I was fortunate enough to play in a couple of games to start the season this year."
The 19-year-old centre appeared in 4 games for Ottawa during his initial stint and recorded his first career NHL point on October 21st in a 6-3 win over the Maple Leafs. While adjusting to the in-game portion of life in the National Hockey League was an eye-opener for Brown, he credits his exposure to the team's veterans on a daily basis as the most valuable experience during his time with the Senators.
Instagram from @senators: Game #1 for @loganbrown21.
"For me, it was seeing the routines and the effort in practice every single day. Those were the biggest things that I noticed during my time in Ottawa," said Brown. "It was awesome just to be able to learn from guys like Erik Karlsson and Mark Stone. Those are top players in the league so to see what they do on and off the ice everyday really taught me a lot and I brought that knowledge back with me to Windsor."
That experience paid off for Brown who was dominant in his return to the Spitfires, recording 24 points (13G, 11A) in just 15 games leading up to the World Juniors.
"That's what I expect out of myself," he said. "It's my 4th year in the Ontario Hockey League, I'm older and I've got a little time in the NHL so going back to Junior I knew that I needed to raise my game."
After a stellar showing with Team USA at the World Junior Summer Showcase, where Brown was flanked by Casey Mittelstadt and Kailer Yamamoto, he ultimately earned himself an invitation to represent his country on home soil in Buffalo. Unfortunately for Brown, he suffered a lower body injury in Team USA's second game that would cut his time in the tournament short.
"Anytime you can represent your country is special," said Brown. "It was disappointing that I got hurt and also that we got bronze. I thought we had a good team and we could have placed better but you can't dwell on that kind of stuff."
The 6'6" forward surprised a lot of people by returning for Team USA's semi-final game against Sweden but admits that his recovery from his injury wasn't where it needed to be.
"I grew up watching the World Juniors and dreaming about winning a gold medal. If there was any way that I could play, I was going to try," Brown stated. "I did everything I could to get back and I probably shouldn't have played but I had to try. I wanted to help my team win gold for our country and we came up short but I had to get into that game. There's no way I wasn't playing."
After the tournament, Brown returned to Ottawa to work with the Sens' medical staff while recovering as he gears up to join the Kitchener Rangers for the back half of the OHL season.
"I had an idea before the tournament that I was going to get traded and then speaking with my agent I knew that Kitchener was the place I wanted to go," said Brown. "The organization has so much history. I've been in the league for four years now and you always hear stuff about all the teams and cities and Kitchener is a place that I knew if I got the opportunity that I'd love to play there."
Brown brings championship experience to a talented Rangers' squad after helping Windsor capture a Memorial Cup last May and fully intends to help bring a title back to Kitchener this season.
"They've got a good team on paper," he said of his new squad. "They're sitting near the top of the conference so I'm hoping we can make a good run for it."
There's no set timeline for Brown's first game with the Rangers but it's likely to take place sometime before the end of the month if his recovery continues to progress as expected.

Some numbers:

Here's a look at Brown's stats from this season as of January 15th, 2018:

From the chief amateur scout:

"What I respect about Logan is that he went out in that semi-final game and, if you watched it closely, he basically played on one leg. You could tell that he wasn't ready to play but wanted to try and wanted to see if he was able to help contribute. Unfortunately, he just wasn't physically able to do that but I have a lot of respect for Logan for pushing and wanting to try. I think that's the biggest part of Logan's game that's grown in the last 12 months. He has skill, and I don't think anyone can deny the skill level he has, but his off-ice and his compete level has grown over the last year and he really showed that by trying to gut it out in their semi-final game. Sometimes it's tough for the outsider to see that part but I was extremely proud how he wanted to play and try to help his team."- Trent Mann on Brown's return in the semi-finals against Sweden