After playing for the U.S. Junior Hockey Team at the World Junior Ice Hockey Championships in 1983, and leading his high school, Mount Saint Charles Academy in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, to consecutive championships, Lawton was the first overall draft pick by the North Stars in the 1983 NHL Entry Draft. Lawton is noted for being the first US-born hockey player drafted first overall in the NHL draft. He was also the first and, as of 2017, the only US high school hockey player to be drafted first overall.