The Vegas Golden Knights brought Jeremy Lauzon in from the Nashville Predators over the summer. Their main reason was that he hit people... a lot. We're talking about 1,180 career hits in eight seasons, whether that's with the Golden Knights, the Nashville Predators, or the Boston Bruins. Heck, he even spent time with the Seattle Kraken, knocking people around in the Pacific Northwest.
We're also talking about 386 hits (a career-high) with the Predators in 2023-24. Add in 111 blocked shots and you can see why McCrimmon wanted him on his blue line. However, there's a small problem.
Lauzon hasn't exactly been as good as advertised. Sure, the hits are there for Lauzon (48) along with the blocked shots. However, there's a deeper underlying problem with the defenseman's game. He already has 19 penalty minutes this season, which is projected to hit 120 by season's end.
For further perspective, Ryan Reaves currently holds the franchise record for the most penalty minutes in a single season (74 in 2018-19). No Golden Knights player has eclipsed the century mark in a single season, although Lauzon is trending towards becoming the first.
That's not a pleasant mark to hit if you're a Golden Knights player. See, you'd rather become the first player in franchise history to, say, eclipse the century mark in points. Jack Eichel (21 points) and Mitch Marner (17 points) are trending towards this mark.
Jeremy Lauzon must clean up his play to stick around on the Vegas Golden Knights
Surprisingly, Lauzon has been offensively productive. He's notched three assists and is trending towards 19 in 2025-26, which would be a career-high. However, his main issue is that he takes too many dumb penalties.
One example is the last road trip. Lauzon took a minor penalty in every game, hindering the Golden Knights. But let's look at when the Golden Knights played against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday. The defenseman takes a bad tripping penalty, putting Tampa Bay on the power play.
Guess who scored? Nikita Kucherov. That goal put the game away for the Lightning, leading them to sweep both games against the Golden Knights. The funny thing is that Lauzon has only gone to the penalty box once for fighting this season. It's the tripping, the slashing, and other penalties that have hindered his ability.
The good news is the Golden Knights are still at the lower portion for penalty minutes this season. They're tied for 29th in total penalty minutes with 102, making them one of the most disciplined teams. Still, it would help Lauzon's case if he could cut back on the mental errors. That's especially true in late-game situations when you're trying to claw back in the game.
One small tripping penalty could fall the Golden Knights like it did against the Lightning. Mind you, you won't be playing against the likes of Kucherov in the Stanley Cup playoffs. You're mainly facing off against superstars like Mikko Rantanen and Leon Draisaitl. That's something that Vegas can't afford in the postseason.