Boston Bruins Quebec Junior Star Jeremy Lauzon Shows Stuff in 3rd Season

If Bruins defense prospect Jeremy Lauzon develops into anything like the player he idolizes, Boston may have gotten a steal in the middle of the second round of last June’s NHL draft.

At 6’2” and 193 pounds, the 18-year old left-shooting Quebec native brings size and good wheels and may be just what the B’s need as they seek to overhaul an aging core of defensemen over the next couple of years. He patterns his game after Rangers all-around blueliner Ryan McDonagh.

“I compete every shift,” Lauzon told The Hockey News in late January. “I play hard, make a good first pass and I’m a good skater so I can bring some offense. But I have to concentrate on my defense first.”

Lauzon has steadily improved in each of his three seasons for the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), putting up 16 points in 2014, 36 last year (15 goals) in 60 games, and a whopping 50 points (10 goals) this season in just 46 games.  He added a goal and three points over two games in the QMJHL All-Star Super Series against Russia in November.

Boston’s 52^nd overall pick of the 2015 draft, he was ranked as high as 42^nd among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting and 44^th by Future Considerations on pre-draft boards.

He’s living up to those projections this season. He was one of the last cuts, nearly making Team Canada’s prestigious World Junior squad and has been leading the way from the back end for the Huskies all season.

The Bruins liked the progress they saw enough that they signed him to an entry level contract in November.

"I play hard, make a good first pass and I'm a good skater so I can bring some offense."  

 -  Jeremy Lauzon

It helps Lauzon’s development that he’s playing on the best team in the league. The Huskies finished as the QMJHL Regular Season Champion with 113 points on 54 wins and just 9 regulation losses – 11 more points than the next best team. “We have a super team,” Lauzon told THN. “Every guy is doing well, the team intensity is really good. Everyone works the same way.”

Hockey’s Future calls Lauzon a “gritty defenseman who isn’t afraid to jump in on the rush. He can find the back of the net, having scored 15 goals in his second year in junior hockey, and is fairly responsible in his own zone. He’s a bit of a risk taker, however, and needs to refine his defensive game. With his ability to move the puck forward and solid skating, Lauzon projects as an effective offensive defender.”

Perhaps it’s that grittiness and two-way game that drew the B’s to Lauzon, who ended up being one of the picks Boston received in the draft-day Dougie Hamilton trade. According to CSNNE, he likes to throw big hits, play with energy and an edge and take offensive risks that tend to result in goals. “I think he’s a real character player,” said Bruins assistant GM Scott Bradley. “He’s a transitional defenseman that has the capability of producing offensively, and our scouts really, really liked him.”

The Hockey News has a similar take on Lauzon: “[He] owns a very projectable frame and excellent skating ability, which is a major plus for a potential National Hockey League defenseman. Has the tools to succeed at the highest level. [He] needs to fill out his big frame and add more strength [and] also needs to work more on his defensive-zone coverage in order to thrive in the NHL. [He] is a bit raw, overall [but a] big, mobile offensive defenseman with upside.”

Lauzon told CSNNE he likes to play physical. "With the Bruins I think it will fit pretty well with my style," he said. "I love [McDonagh's] game. He's got a good two-way game going, and I want to be like him in the NHL."

Although next season may be a bit too soon to join the big club, Lauzon will likely still get a chance to compete in camp with other top B’s defensive prospects such as Brandon Carlo, Jakub Zboril, Matt Grzelcyk and Rob O'Gara, as well as upcoming players Joe Morrow and Colin Miller as Boston looks to stabilize its blueline corps over the long term.

An area the Bruins will look to improve on is puck possession, with defensemen getting the puck quickly and effectively up ice to the forwards and then maintaining it in the offensive zone. Younger, offensively skilled defensemen like Lauzon will help the B’s as they look to improve stats such as Corsi, which measure all shots and attempts for and against and usually indicate whether a team is controlling the puck more in the offensive zone instead of battling to keep it out of their own end all of the time.

B’s veteran defender Zdeno Chara, 39, has only a 45.8% Corsi this year and a whopping 77 turnovers, while fellow D-man Dennis Seidenberg, 34, has a 42.6 Corsi, the lowest of his career. Although they bring a strong physical presence, Kevan Miller (43.6) and Adam McQuaid (42.3) have also struggled in the possession game. Young, quick Bruins defensemen Torey Krug (56.8), Joe Morrow (50.1) and Colin Miller (53.8) have been bright spots on the possession front.

Overall Boston ranks 20^th in the league with a 49% Corsi, while L.A. dominates the possession front with a 54.5% rating. Improving breakouts from the back end will help the B’s further adjust to NHL trends toward a faster, more skilled game and rule changes favoring offense in recent years, such as obstruction penalties and elimination of two-line off-sides, that rely more on puck possession than brawn to control the flow of games.