Looking over the Bruins’ roster after Thursday’s big round of cuts, it wasn’t hard to pinpoint the most surprising name still there: Jakub Lauko.
Last year, Lauko was one of the prospects Bruins fans were most excited to see in training camp. He was a 2018 third-round pick coming off a promising COVID-shortened season that saw him post 19 points in 23 games with AHL Providence.
This year, though? There was very little hype around Lauko going into camp. The 22-year-old forward was coming off a disappointing 2021-22 season that saw him register just three goals and 16 points in 54 games for Providence. By his own admission, it was a “pretty bad” year.
Bruins' cuts included a pretty big surprise
At least a handful of other young forwards seemed to be ahead of him in the organizational pecking order. And yet, it’s Lauko who remains with the big club through the end of the preseason, while most of the others were sent down.
This is not a case of the Bruins keeping Lauko around because they don’t want to expose him to other teams on waivers, either. Lauko wouldn’t need to go through waivers to be sent down. Nope, he’s still in Boston because the Bruins’ coaches and front office believe he deserves to still be in Boston.
That many fans and analysts were surprised that Lauko survived the latest round of cuts wasn’t lost on him. He made note of those who questioned why he was there or said that other players deserved to make the team ahead of him and used it as motivation heading into Saturday’s preseason finale.
“Just to see or hear all the comments or the tweets that I don’t deserve to be here or I shouldn’t be here or someone else should be here, I approached different,” Lauko said. “I was kind of a little bit pissed, to be honest, to come into this game and prove myself that I should be here and I should stay.”
He did a pretty good job of that. Lauko scored his second goal of the preseason in the Bruins’ 5-3 loss to the Devils. He tied for the team lead with four shots on goal and was second on the team with four hits. He finished the preseason as the only Bruin with multiple five-on-five goals.
Lauko was the right wing on a line with Nick Foligno and Tomas Nosek that coach Jim Montgomery said was the team’s best on Saturday. When they were on the ice, the Bruins out-attempted the Devils 11-8, outscored them 1-0, and had a 73.8% expected goals share. They could very well end up being the Bruins’ fourth line for Wednesday’s season-opener in Washington, too.
Montgomery likes a lot of what he’s seen from Lauko, especially the speed he can bring to the Bruins’ bottom six.
“His speed. His ability to put the other team on their heels by how he drives the net off the rush. He’s someone that can bring speed to the third or fourth line and tenacity and some physicality involved,” Montgomery said this week. “He goes to hard areas, which draws penalties, which gains momentum, creates rebound chances. So, we just like what he’s done so far.”
So, how did Lauko go from such a disappointing 2021-22 season to leapfrogging numerous other young forwards and now being on the verge of making Boston’s opening night roster? Hard work and conditioning, according to him. That included training with wrestlers, which he said was “much harder” than any other training he had done.
“I think the approach that I took this camp,” Lauko said. “Last season I had a big expectation of myself that I’ll end up with those guys at the start of the season, and it didn’t work out. I wasn’t good enough. So, end of last season was pretty bad. This summer, I was training my butt off and hopefully it’s gonna pay off.
“I feel pretty good on the ice. I feel comfortable on the puck. I think my conditioning is pretty high tier right now. I feel good today. I feel best in the third period. When I can feel like the other guys are getting a little bit tired, I feel best. I think that’s gonna be my staple this season, my conditioning and my ability to skate all game.”
It’s possible the Bruins could still make a couple more roster moves before Wednesday’s opener, so Lauko isn’t 100% locked into the team just yet. But whatever happens from here, he feels he put his best foot forward and showed that he’s ready to be much better than he was last season.
“For me, if it’s here or if it’s Providence, I’ll just keep doing what I was doing so far,” he said. “I think after this game, my head, my heart is clear, that I did everything. It depends on the guys in management and in development, what they will assume is gonna be best for me.”
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