When you hear the name Jeremy Lauzon, most of what comes to mind is the physical, bruising style that has always been his identity. Early on in his tenure with the Nashville Predators, that approach to his game was not held in a very positive light.
Most already did not like the trade David Poile made to acquire him at the 2022 Trade Deadline, and such sentiment was only amplified with the careless hits and unnecessary penalties he took at first. With the contract he signed in the 2022 offseason, many thought that the team had a legitimate liability on their books for the future.
But Lauzon's performance last year greatly changed the fans' minds about him, and not just because he set the NHL's regular season hits record with 386 of them. If it were not for Gustav Nyquist, Lauzon would have been a shoo-in for most improved player on the Predators in 2023-24.
Jeremy Lauzon is showing promise as a well rounded player for Nashville Predators
First of all, I am not just going to gloss over the fact that Lauzon broke the NHL's hit record last season. For someone who already was adept at the physical game, he became the envy of those who want to play with and excel at that style.
His defensive partner, Alexandre Carrier, even talked about how great it is playing alongside Lauzon because of how badly opposing players fear him. All of that alone makes him a desirable commodity in the NHL, and the Predators are lucky to have him.
Nowadays though, expectations are higher than him just being able to push the opposition around with his bruising ways. Especially from a pure defensive perspective, he absolutely looked the part last season.
Lauzon neutralized opposing offense many times last year and almost never looked lost in his own zone. He also skated fine and rarely if ever did the Predators surrender a goal because he left a guy on a breakaway or just got blown by, and for a big man like him, that is very important.
Offensively, there was still not much to speak of from him, but that is alright because everyone knows that has never been his forte. Plenty of defensemen in the NHL have excelled in top-four roles even without much offensive punch to their game, and there is no doubt that Lauzon has potential to become that kind of player.
Lauzon has room to become even better, but will be a challenge
It is not an exaggeration to say that Lauzon looked like a completely different player in the 2023-24 season. You could see it from the eye test and even the underlying numbers suggested the same, which is really encouraging for everyone.
It is even better to mention that Lauzon is only 27 years old, which is when athletes are supposedly in the early part of their primes. It is very possible that he has yet to play the best hockey of his career, even for how good last year was, but now he will face the challenge of having to replicate such success.
It is nothing personal against Lauzon at all, but simply the reality that career seasons rarely repeat for anyone in sports. That is especially the case when expectations were not really there before, and now they are in a big way, so we will see how he fares with the added pressure on his shoulders.
The good news is that he will essentially pick up right where he left off last year, and will almost certainly be back on a pairing with Carrier. Those two gained great chemistry last year as Lauzon is of course the big bruising guy, while Carrier is much less physical and has more offensive upside to his game.
The familiarity there will only help both guys, and for Lauzon, having several years before the dreaded age of 30 is big for his future outlook. But as far as this coming year, do not be surprised if there is a slight dip in his overall play, because it is so hard to immediately replicate the success of a career season.