Boston Bruins: Jakub Lauko to the AHL or back to major junior?

BOSTON, MA - SEPTEMBER 16: Jakub Lauko #94 of the Boston Bruins looks on during the first period at TD Garden on September 16, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA - SEPTEMBER 16: Jakub Lauko #94 of the Boston Bruins looks on during the first period at TD Garden on September 16, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Jakub Lauko is an impressive forward prospect for the Boston Bruins; question is, will the 19 year-old Czech head back to the QMJHL or push for an AHL spot?

Winning the Memorial Cup with the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies last season, you could argue that Jakub Lauko has done all he can in major junior hockey and that the best place for him is with the Boston Bruins’ AHL affiliate in Providence.

You could also argue though that since arriving from the Czech Republic that Jakub Lauko still needs to work on his game on North American ice some more. Maybe competing against younger, slightly less taxing competition for one more year might not do him too much harm.

Last season he tallied 21 goals and 20 assists, a total of 41 points in just 44 regular-season QMJHL games. He then followed up with a further 13 points (6 goals and 7 assists) in the nineteen game run to the Memorial Cup. In terms of point production, it’s not crazy numbers like you sometimes see in juniors, but it certainly is very impressive to be scoring essentially a point-per-game.

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The flip side of the argument is that in achieving the end goal of all major junior teams, maybe it’s the ideal time to move the Boston Bruins 2018 third round (77th overall) pick to a location where they can keep an even closer eye on his development.

What sets Lauko apart from other players is his acceleration leading to rushes on the opposition net, couple that with what can only be described as always being busy on the ice and you’ve got a player that may well be more than comfortable with the rigours of the AHL.

The biggest concern with a promotion as a nineteen year-old is the fact that the American Hockey League still has a few goons and penalty-happy players floating around. The last thing the Boston Bruins organisation want is for a young prospect like Jakub Lauko to have his development impacted by a late hit or other extra-curricular.

It’s all, realistically, going to come down to the Boston Bruins training camp and seeing what level of performance we get out of him then. If he performs well in a professional environment alongside older counterparts then chances are he stays.

That’s what I’d put money on; him staying in Providence. He’ll enter training camp able to communicate with at least a few Boston Bruins players, namely David Krejci and David Pastrnak in his native tongue. That’s going to do wonders for his confidence, no doubt.

If he makes it to the Providence Bruins for his first AHL season, he’ll also have that same connection with a couple of his counterparts, namely Dan Vladar and Jakub Zboril, both of him are also Czech-born.

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It’d seem there might be a bit of a Czech revolution set to occur within the Boston Bruins organisation; maybe it’s Jakub Lauko that leads the charge (after Pastrnak of course)!!