8. Jeremy Lauzon
Age: 22 years old
Position: Defense
Stats: 16 games, 1 goal, 0 assists, 1 point
You could honestly flip Lauzon and Zboril on this list and I’d have no issue. Both are going to be NHL guys, in my opinion. Lauzon has the higher floor while Zboril has the higher ceiling. I prefer ceiling to floor, but Lauzon’s still a fascinating guy for me.
He really stood out on the penalty kill for me. Lauzon’s got nice defensive instincts and takes away shooting lanes efficiently. He has the tools to be a third-pairing defenseman. His ability to kill penalties and avoid mistakes should suit him well in that role. Lauzon doesn’t do enough offensively to be much more than that, though.
7. Jakob Zboril
Age: 22 years old
Position: Defense
Stats: 56 games, 4 goals, 15 assists, 19 points (Providence Bruins, AHL); 2 games played, 0 goals, 0 assists, 0 points (Boston Bruins, NHL)
People are starting to think Jakob Zboril is a bust. But he did make his NHL debut this season, which is a good sign. To be fair to Zboril, he’s in a hard place. The Bruins blueline is pretty deep and it’s hard to stand out. Zboril’s done a very solid job in the AHL and is steadily rising up on their call-up list.
That said, it’s time for him to earn a role, one way or another. Zboril has developed into a better two-way defender than I thought he would. However, his offense hasn’t quite developed as I believed it would. To be fair though, Zboril’s been in more of a shutdown role than an offensive one for Providence. So I think there’s still something there.