Nashville Predators Training Camp Spotlight 2023: Jeremy Lauzon

We’re continuing our series of Nashville Predators preseason training camp previews with Jeremy Lauzon, a player who needs to have a very strong camp and preseason.

Lauzon now finds himself in a slightly more crowded defensive room and is going to have to show that he’s better outright than at least one or two of his teammates to stay in the lineup, likely as the sixth defenseman on the team.

After being traded by the Seattle Kraken in return for a 2nd-Round pick in 2022, Lauzon was later extended by the Nashville Predators to a four-year deal worth $2M AAV. He’s entering his second year of the contract.

2022-2023 Nashville Predators Season In Review: Lauzon Confuses

In theory, it should be all on the up for Lauzon. He set career-high marks in goals (3), assists (9), points (12), games played (67), and hits (250).

Ideally we should believe that Lauzon has some momentum going into the season. That it should be an “if he can stay healthy he’s going to put it all together” type situation. The only problem is that’s kind of the same boat that Dante Fabbro and Alexandre Carrier are in after their performances last season.

With the addition of Luke Schenn to the existing trio of Roman Josi, Ryan McDonagh, and Tyson Barrie, you’ve got three guys fighting for two spots.

What plays well for Lauzon is his physicality and the fact that he was a mainstay on a top 10 penalty killing team. He finished top-10 in NHL in hits, giving the Predators two players in the top-10 ( Luke Schenn).

Lauzon gives you plenty of hard-hitting moments that gets you up out of your seat, like this one from this past March after Anaheim’s

Max Jones

didn’t take too kindly to a blast from Lauzon near the boards:

Other than that Lauzon’s offensive skills aren’t jumping off the page, and defensively he’s more likely to be chasing a hit than making a deft poke check.

Training Camp Outlook and 2023-24 Season Preview

Lauzon is right handed, which is nice but isn’t enough of an excuse to keep him in the lineup over Fabbro or Carrier. You also would have to keep him away from Schenn. While the idea of the two big bangers (Schenn led the league in hits and Lauzon was 9th) does seem tantalizing, it likely won’t result in positive Predators outcomes.

Having a new head coach in Andrew Brunette is going to be a key factor. With fresh eyes, Lauzon might be able to succeed in winning over his new boss and getting the inside track over Carrier and Fabbro, at least to start the season.

Even if Lauzon falls out of favor, he might never be far from the ice. We saw the injuries pile up last season and in the insanely tough Central Division it might just become an annual event. You could see this triangle of defense plugging in and playing different combos and injury fill-ins the entire season.

If we’re going to project one of this trio as the safe choice for the No.5 slot, it is Carrier. His $2.5 million dollar extension means that the Predators brass is giving him his shot to stay with the squad long term.

For Lauzon it might just be as simple as be better than Fabbro. If neither drastically ups the offensive output, than it will come down to defensive zone play. There is a chance that the Predators end up favoring Lauzon if the stats are close to even, since Fabbro doesn’t quite have the same physical edge to this game.

With the departure of a Tanner Jeannot and Schenn inheriting the role of top heavyweight on the team, having Lauzon evolve into a middleweight bruiser who can make it through the season healthy and develop a reliable game night in and night out would be as ideal as it comes.

If you’d like to see a fuller breakdown of this question, check for Chad Minton’s article on the subject.

Lauzon will be feeling the heat from Day 1 of camp all the way through the trade deadline, and we’ll see if he’s up to the challenge and pressure in this make or break year for Jeremy Lauzon.

Biggest Strength for Lauzon: Physicality; Enforcer Role

Biggest Weakness for Lauzon: Lack of Offense, Bad Penalties

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