Prospect Info: Zachary Lauzon | Left Defenseman | Rouyn-Noranda (QMJHL) | 2nd round, 51st overall

Sidney the Kidney

One last time
Jun 29, 2009
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I'm not saying whether this is a right or wrong pick at this time, too early to tell, but the Pens certainly do seem to like to select players rated way lower than the spot they're drafting at.

Hopefully their scouting staff is right and all the various scouting services are wrong.
 

TNT87

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Jun 23, 2010
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I'm not saying whether this is a right or wrong pick at this time, too early to tell, but the Pens certainly do seem to like to select players rated way lower than the spot they're drafting at.

Hopefully their scouting staff is right and all the various scouting services are wrong.

It definitely seems like a reach. Hopefully he will develop into what the Penguins envision him to be.
 

wej20

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Aug 14, 2008
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I'm not saying whether this is a right or wrong pick at this time, too early to tell, but the Pens certainly do seem to like to select players rated way lower than the spot they're drafting at.

Hopefully their scouting staff is right and all the various scouting services are wrong.

That would be an interesting study, seeing which teams pick guys close to the consensus ranking and which teams go against that. I imagine as you get into the lower rounds most teams are making a few picks which are off the board compared to the scouting services.
 
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MartinS82

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May 26, 2016
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Honest question, how much of a reach was it, really? They weren't taking a goalie, and I know at least 6 went in the 3rd. They likely weren't going for a winger either. So if you filter the list just by Dmen (and maybe centers if they were looking there), how many did he pass?

I guess I just use the much derided appeal to authority on this. They interviewed these guys and have watched them all extensively. I will comfortably say that they know more than me, so I will trust their judgement. They've hit on enough late picks for me to give them that.
 

Gumbercules

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Oct 11, 2007
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Saw a bit of Lauzon in the Q playoffs this year in person. Steady defensively (however he wasn't getting the tough matchups) and better in transition than i think is prospect profile reads, however i don't follow other leagues enough to know whether it's a reach or not. Should be pointed out though that he played behind his brother and Phillipe Myers in RN and didn't get a ton of PP time. Expect his numbers to jump next year when he starts becoming a focal point of the PP and getting top minutes in general.
 

exHornet

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May 14, 2014
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The past 24 hours haven't inspired much confidence.

The same type of quotes were being made after the Pens drafted Goligoski. And Rust. Just to name a few. I'm old enough to remember how nasty the mood was when both of them were taken. Goligoski was described as the worst second round pick ever, and Rust was described as having a peak as being an AHL call-up.

Point is, nobody here knows as much as the guys doing the drafting, no matter how much we kid ourselves.
 

HandshakeLine

A real jerk thing
Nov 9, 2005
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The same type of quotes were being made after the Pens drafted Goligoski. And Rust. Just to name a few. I'm old enough to remember how nasty the mood was when both of them were taken. Goligoski was described as the worst second round pick ever, and Rust was described as having a peak as being an AHL call-up.

Point is, nobody here knows as much as the guys doing the drafting, no matter how much we kid ourselves.

That reminds me, someone please bump the Guentzel thread so we can re-read the overreactions there. There were some amazing ones. :laugh:
 

JimmyTwoTimes

Registered User
Apr 13, 2010
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The same type of quotes were being made after the Pens drafted Goligoski. And Rust. Just to name a few. I'm old enough to remember how nasty the mood was when both of them were taken. Goligoski was described as the worst second round pick ever, and Rust was described as having a peak as being an AHL call-up.

Point is, nobody here knows as much as the guys doing the drafting, no matter how much we kid ourselves.

I get what you are saying and agree...we've been getting the most out of these "no name" prospects... But eventually I'd like to see what we could do with the " big name" ones.

Guys who are projected to go in the first but fall for whatever reason..we did that with Sprong. Would like to see more of that.

As for Guentzel, he was drafted when size was still an issue around the league. It was already known how skilled he was , only knock was the size. But after seeing players like gaudreau and Tyler Johnson ...league has changed with that. Jake would have been a first round prospect this year.
 

HandshakeLine

A real jerk thing
Nov 9, 2005
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Every good prospect would be a 1st round prospect in retrospect, no offense. That's the whole problem with looking at a draft in hindsight. :laugh:
 

JimmyTwoTimes

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Apr 13, 2010
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Every good prospect would be a 1st round prospect in retrospect, no offense. That's the whole problem with looking at a draft in hindsight. :laugh:

I don't mean after seeing him play...I mean if he was entering the draft this year. All of the scouting reports on him were great. Dropped due to being 5'7 at the time. Which isn't happening now.
 

hooverdam

Registered User
Feb 21, 2013
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The same type of quotes were being made after the Pens drafted Goligoski. And Rust. Just to name a few. I'm old enough to remember how nasty the mood was when both of them were taken. Goligoski was described as the worst second round pick ever, and Rust was described as having a peak as being an AHL call-up.

Point is, nobody here knows as much as the guys doing the drafting, no matter how much we kid ourselves.

It's not even this particular pick I'm that concerned about. You're right, we don't really know how these guys are going to turn out. They're basically lottery tickets at this point.

My concern is the type of defensemen that they're targeting. It's like Pouliot has scared them off drafting offensive defensemen that have a chance of being anything. Going after--in fact, reaching for big defensemen that can't score is something they did in last year's draft too, and it's not a drafting philosophy I'm a fan of. Especially since we have absolutely no defense prospects showing anything right now.

They can't rely on Schultzs and Daleys to fall out of the sky and help them for the rest of the Crosby/Malkin era. Eventually they're going to have to develop a defenseman who can put up points and follow in Letang's footsteps, instead of throwing them away like trash (Despres) or stamping the offense out of them (Dumoulin, Maatta).

I know we're not supposed to think about anything but back-to-back Cups, and as such this front office is beyond all criticism right now, but it's something that worries me. :dunno:
 

Asuna

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Apr 27, 2014
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It's not even this particular pick I'm that concerned about. You're right, we don't really know how these guys are going to turn out. They're basically lottery tickets at this point.

My concern is the type of defensemen that they're targeting. It's like Pouliot has scared them off drafting offensive defensemen that have a chance of being anything. Going after--in fact, reaching for big defensemen that can't score is something they did in last year's draft too, and it's not a drafting philosophy I'm a fan of. Especially since we have absolutely no defense prospects showing anything right now.

They can't rely on Schultzs and Daleys to fall out of the sky and help them for the rest of the Crosby/Malkin era. Eventually they're going to have to develop a defenseman who can put up points and follow in Letang's footsteps, instead of throwing them away like trash (Despres) or stamping the offense out of them (Dumoulin, Maatta).

I know we're not supposed to think about anything but back-to-back Cups, and as such this front office is beyond all criticism right now, but it's something that worries me. :dunno:

i feel the same way.....though i find it interesting that they've mostly targeted that type of dman in the draft recently.
 

JimmyTwoTimes

Registered User
Apr 13, 2010
19,958
5,281
It's not even this particular pick I'm that concerned about. You're right, we don't really know how these guys are going to turn out. They're basically lottery tickets at this point.

My concern is the type of defensemen that they're targeting. It's like Pouliot has scared them off drafting offensive defensemen that have a chance of being anything. Going after--in fact, reaching for big defensemen that can't score is something they did in last year's draft too, and it's not a drafting philosophy I'm a fan of. Especially since we have absolutely no defense prospects showing anything right now.

They can't rely on Schultzs and Daleys to fall out of the sky and help them for the rest of the Crosby/Malkin era. Eventually they're going to have to develop a defenseman who can put up points and follow in Letang's footsteps, instead of throwing them away like trash (Despres) or stamping the offense out of them (Dumoulin, Maatta).

I know we're not supposed to think about anything but back-to-back Cups, and as such this front office is beyond all criticism right now, but it's something that worries me. :dunno:

Under Shero we drafted dmen to trade for forwards (since we couldn't develop them). Since then its the opposite. We are doing great at developing the forwards we have and creating a logjam now. We haven't been doing the same with dmen...so we could be seeing guys like sheary eventually moved for a proven dman.
 

hooverdam

Registered User
Feb 21, 2013
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i feel the same way.....though i find it interesting that they've mostly targeted that type of dman in the draft recently.

I look at it this way: a certain person has had a hand in developing our prospects for a while now, since Shero drafted all those defensemen who had to "work on their defense" at the cost of offense in WBS. That same person drove the Despres trade when Despres didn't turn into enough of a pylon. And now he has complete control over our prospects. By all accounts, this person should be our next GM.

When we acquire offensive defensemen and let them do their thing on the NHL roster, they're successful reclamation projects. But when we draft and develop them, they turn into headcases or get traded or couldn't score a goal with a gun to their head. And now we seem to be looking for players without that offensive upside to begin with. That's not a good direction to be headed in respective to the rest of the league, especially considering how we won these Cups.
 

Malkinstheman

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Aug 12, 2012
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One thing to note is that the 3 D on the team that scored more than him will be graduating next year. Im guessing that means he will be getting alot more responsibility and should allow him to be able to develop offensively.
 

clefty

Retrovertigo
Dec 24, 2003
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Dammit, Penguins. You were supposed to draft the guy whose name I learned 12 hours ago and spent a whole four minutes researching!
 

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