Nashville Predators Acquire Jeremy Lauzon

The Nashville Predators have made a move to shore up their defense. The Predators have acquired defenseman Jeremy Lauzon from the Seattle Kraken. The Predators have traded the Kraken a 2022 second-round pick in exchange for Lauzon. Both teams have announced the trade. Lauzon was one of the Kraken’s picks from their Expansion Draft, and he now moves to the third team of his NHL career, having played a total of 53 games as a member of the Kraken.

As was written in our recent trade deadline primer, the priority for the Predators approaching the deadline was likely to be their defense, specifically their bottom pairing. The team just waived defenseman Philippe Myers and is giving NHL minutes on their bottom pairing to Matt Tennyson, a 31-year-old AHL/NHL tweener, and Jeremy Davies, who has a total of 18 NHL games to his name. For a team that has designs on making the playoffs and potentially going on a run, that was a glaring weakness on their roster, and it seemed as though with every passing hour until the deadline, with players like Mark Giordano, Ben Chiarot, Hampus Lindholm, and more already being dealt, GM David Poile would be harder pressed to find a fit to improve his team. It seems as though that pressure may have motivated Poile, as a second-round pick is a steep price to pay for Lauzon. Lauzon is still only 24 years old and was a well-regarded prospect from his days in Boston, but since arriving in the NHL he has been unable to truly impress in any specific area of the game. He brings physicality and size, which are two admirable traits to have as a blueliner, but has struggled to be a well-rounded defensive defenseman and found particular trouble in the Bruins’ playoff exit against the Islanders last season. He has virtually no offensive element to his game as well, with only 17 career points in 129 games. In all honesty, it seems as though this trade is the clearest reflection of how expensive defensemen have been at this deadline, given the prices Boston and Florida paid for Lindholm and Chiarot, respectively. Lauzon for a second-rounder may be the price giving fans the most sticker shock of them all. Poile is a highly accomplished GM with a long track record of success in building the many Predators’ bluelines he has overseen, so he has earned a lot of credibility when it comes to his evaluation of defensemen. But it is difficult to fully rationalize the second-round price tag he paid for Lauzon. Lauzon is young, and theoretically has room to grow, but his play in the NHL so far in his career leaves more questions than answers.

For the Kraken, this trade is a strong one for GM Ron Francis and one that signals their intention to fully enter a long-term “rebuilding” plan for the team. Some may have expected this Kraken squad to find immediate success, especially given the success of the Vegas Golden Knights in their expansion season. The Pacific Division was viewed to be among the NHL’s weakest, and some observers even believed that the Kraken could come close to hitting the all-important 100 point mark in the standings. But that success did not come for the Kraken, and as a result, it seems as though they are fully pivoting to a more long-term strategy to build their team. They have already traded Calle Jarnkrok, and tonight also shipped Mason Appleton for another draft pick. Francis clearly believes the road to his team being a contender runs through the draft, and the Kraken are quickly building a strong stable of draft picks. In 2022, they now have four second-rounders and are set to pick at the top of the first round. This may be disappointing for the Kraken fanbase that likely wanted to see competitive hockey a bit sooner, but at least tonight the fanbase should rest easy. Getting a second-round pick for Lauzon is a strong return for a team in need of some good news.

Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic was the first to report Lauzon’s trade. Kevin Weekes of ESPN was first on the compensation returning to Seattle.

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