Jeremy Lauzon felt right at home with the Vegas Golden Knights. That’s why he wanted to make this his home for the next six years.
The Knights felt Lauzon, a 29-year-old blue liner, did enough in his first year with the club to warrant a six-year, $24 million extension that was officially signed on July 1.
“That was my first choice (was) to come back here,” Lauzon said. “As a player, you want to be part of an organization that has a chance to win every year, and when I was looking at every 32 organizations, Vegas was right up top there.”
Lauzon was acquired along with center Colton Sissons in June 2025 from the Nashville Predators in exchange for the signing rights to defenseman Nic Hague.
The native of Val D’or, Quebec, appeared in 68 games and totaled 13 points. He led all NHL defensemen with 251 hits, the second time he’s done so in his career.
Lauzon missed two rounds of the playoffs with an upper-body injury but returned in time for the Stanley Cup Final.
“I said it multiple times during the year that I wanted to be here,” Lauzon said. “When the opportunity was there to get something done, it was just great relief. I’m really excited to be part of this group for the next six years, hopefully.”
Round into form
It’s a deal that will make Lauzon a pillar of this defense for the foreseeable future. The Knights would benefit him becoming that.
Lauzon’s Knights tenure got off to a slow start last season. He missed the entire preseason with a lower-body injury, then missed 14 games in November with an undisclosed ailment.
When he got on the ice, the penalties piled up. Lauzon led the Knights with 89 penalty minutes, an uncharacteristic number for a team that has taken pride in not taking penalties.
It was after that undisclosed injury toward the end of 2025 where Lauzon started to feel better about his game.
“It felt like after Christmas, it was starting to get set for me,” Lauzon said. “I felt comfortable out there, getting my strides. I don’t think I had the best start of the year last year, but I thought I finished strong.”
The new contract comes with more responsibility. Lauzon’s deal will carry him to his age-35 season through 2032.
Lauzon made most of his time in a bigger role, skating with Shea Theodore on the top pair while Brayden McNabb missed 19 games with an upper-body injury in January.
The Knights outscored opponents 14-13 when the two skated together, according to Natural Stat Trick.
Finding balance
Lauzon is likely starting the season with Noah Hanifin. The two skated 23 minutes, 22 seconds together last season. The Knights outshot opponents 33-14 and had 1.97 expected goals when on the ice.
All Lauzon has to do is throw his weight around, get the puck to Hanifin and allow him to use his speed.
It’s a change of pace for both defensemen, especially Hanifin. He’s skating on the right, his off side, for the first time.
“I think we’re just trying to make sure each pair has someone that can be really strong and hard defensively,” Hanifin said. That lets me, (Rasmus Andersson) and (Shea Theodore) to just get going offensively a little bit and try to create some plays off the rush and get involved.”
How long the experiment lasts remains to be seen. Lauzon feels regardless of who plays with who, the Knights have seven defensemen that can impact the game.
“(Hanifin) is really good with the puck. He wants to be in the rush every shift and if I can be a guy that supports him in that role and being hard to play against, having a good stick, a good breakout, it’s like what (Brayden McNabb) does with (Theodore),” he said.
“I think we can be that pair too that plays against the best line every night and be hard to play against.”
Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.
