Jeremy Lauzon
Where Jeremy Lauzon really stands out is his ability to kill penalties; that alone could well put him in line for a call-up to the Boston Bruins sooner than any of the alternate options.
It’s also a role he’ll likely be competing directly with Alex Petrovic for as the former Florida Panthers defenseman has been known to play on the penalty-kill too.
Lauzon has improved his game over the past few years, defensively. He’s not about to blow the world away with huge points totals from the blue line, but equally he’s not about to make big mistakes and that, along with the special team role, could be his ticket to the Boston Bruins third pairing.
He actually earned, in part due to injuries, a solid 16-game stint in the NHL last season and didn’t look too out of place. He tallied a goal, only gave up a single minor penalty in that time and came out of it all with a minus-2 plus/minus score. Not bad for a 22 year-old experiencing the big-time for the very first time.
Jeremy also stands out for his leadership qualities; his final season of junior hockey he was given the captaincy of the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies and also was given an ‘A’ in his first campaign with the Providence Bruins.
Having only been around the American Hockey League for a season and a bit, you could make solid reasoning that he needs to continue to do what he’s doing and he’ll eventually rise up to the NHL, but if he has a strong training camp, there’s no reason he can’t win out in the battle with Petrovic for a spot in the Boston Bruins opening night line-up.