For obvious reasons, Jakub Zboril and Brandon Carlo are getting the most attention as the No. 1 and 2 defensemen drafted by the Boston Bruins in 2015. However, Jeremy Lauzon of the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, chosen by the B’s with the second of two second-round picks acquired from Calgary in the Dougie Hamilton trade, could be the one player who goes on to have the best NHL career of the three.

Lauzon was probably more under the radar than he should have been going into the draft, as he was the goals leader among all Quebec Major Junior Hockey League defensemen with 15 (he had a 12% shooting percentage as a 17-year-old, which should improve over the next two major junior seasons). This reminds a bit of Patrice Bergeron in 2003, who posted a solid season and was ranked 28th among North American skaters by the NHL’s Central Scouting Service, yet generated quizzical looks and in some circles- yawns- when the Bruins snapped him up at 45th overall. The rest, as they say, is history.

As a Red Line Report scout and editor, I admit that I do tend to have blinders on when it comes to certain areas, as aside from a few online viewings, I was not all that familiar with Lauzon for much of the season. However, as we got into March and April, I noticed that Kyle Woodlief and our Quebec/Maritimes area scout started talking about the 6-foot-2, 195-pounder more and more. By the time I read Lauzon’s scouting report in our 2015 NHL Draft Guide published in early June, I was sold on Lauzon as a Boston Bruins type of player. I even posted this on a private message board I contribute to way back on June 21- a little under a week before the draft:

“RLR sleeper who will likely go lower than his #59 ranking in the draft guide. Very good skater with excellent footwork, scored the most goals of any draft eligible defender in the ‘Q’ and plays with a rugged edge- tough to play against and will fight to defend teammates. Fits the bill of being the kind of player the Bruins say they want to add to the mix. Would be a perfect prospect for them if he shot right as opposed to left, but you can’t always get what you want.”

As for that last sentence, it’s a very minor quibble, and who knows? By the time Lauzon is ready to compete for a job in Boston, the cup might runneth over in right-shot defenders and his left-side drive could be a welcome addition.

Here’s what I like about the kid: He’s tough to play against. Too often, fans get dazzled by pure talent and skill, or fixate on production. Not that those things aren’t important- they most certainly are. But the rare player is the one who brings the skill and the passion/propensity to give their all and be a difficult opponent. This is what has made Bergeron (and no- I’m not just comparing them because they both were drafted out of the ‘Q’) so valuable to the franchise in his 12 years with the B’s, and let’s face it- had he been a great skater in 2003, they wouldn’t have had a prayer at drafting him in the middle of the second round because he would have been a household name in that deep class that will produce multiple Hall of Famers.

With a PPG ratio of 0.6 and accounting for 16 percent of his team’s total offense last season, that’s a solid jumping off point for a player who is expected to get better offensively over the next couple of years as he continues to mature and gains a more prominent role on the Huskies. Lauzon was anything but a household name, but even my colleagues at Red Line didn’t think he would go to the B’s as early in the draft as he did:

“When conversation turns to all the great QMJHL d-men this year, this guy never even garners a mention. Why?”

That snippet accompanied Lauzon’s listing as RLR’s 4th-most underrated player entering the draft, so if RLR and the Bruins are right, the value looks pretty solid. He can skate, shoot, pass and score. He can defend. He’s a rugged player not afraid to take the body and fight if need be, though that’s not something he excels at. In short- he’s precisely the kind of player Boston fans value, so remember the name and keep track of him. In about three years, you might be glad you did.

So, why might Lauzon be the best between Zboril (13th overall) and Carlo (37th overall)? Like Zboril, Lauzon brings similar size and a mix of offense and defense. He’s more of a consistent competitor in my view, despite some reports of Boston’s top choice being “ultracompetitive” (I wouldn’t go that far based on what I saw in film study). Carlo is a massive rearguard who excels in a shutdown role, but I don’t know that he has the offensive skill/sense to be much of a consistent points producer. That leaves Lauzon as the best combination of the three- not as talented as Zboril or as big/defensively savvy as Carlo, but solid across the board and a gritty, hard-to-play against -d-man.

Here’s a good video profile done by John Moore of Sports by Moore back in October…you can get a sense of Lauzon’s fluid footwork/mobility, poise with the puck and check out the solid but clean hit he puts on a kid, dropping him near center ice. As Lauzon adds mass and gains strength, he’ll be able to impose himself more physically as he progresses up the ladder.

Right now, Lauzon is seen as more of an afterthought by most because he wasn’t as known a commodity or one of the draft’s sexiest names going in. However, to get a player of Lauzon’s skill set and potential at 52 speaks to the quality and depth of the 2015 class overall.