Nashville Predators are Blazing Hot: Four Unsung Heroes

Jeremy Lauzon Having a Career Year & Shown a lot of Improvement

Sorting out the Predators' defensive corps was a difficult task going into the season. Trying to figure out who was going to be the odd man out after Luke Schenn was brought in was a topic of discussion.

Surprisingly, Jeremy Lauzon has appeared in every game for the Predators this season. With Tyson Barrie being on the trade block and Alexandre Carrier remaning out with injury, Lauzon should keep getting the starts while averaging over 17 minutes per game.

Lauzon just plays a commendable stye of hockey. Lays his body in the path of shots, puts out tone-setting hits, and steps up for teammates when needed to be that pest to deal with.

With 78 hits, Lauzon ranks 5th in the NHL in that category, and really his only downside is taking the occasional bad penalty. Many of his penalty minutes come from fighting majors, and he really has kept his inexcusable sloppy penalties to a minimum. I've seen improvement in that area from him.

Lauzon also has 35 blocked shots which is one pace to be a new career high for him. And he's still signed at a bargain price of $2M AAV for another two more years after this one.