In football they say defense wins championships, and in hockey the trend has become to build championship contenders based in strong goaltending and excellent defensemen. Northeastern is doing their part to build that championship level defense corps early in this recruiting cycle, landing their third defenseman commit since the new window opened on August 1st after Leo Laschon posted on Friday that he will play his college hockey on Huntington Avenue in Boston.
Laschon is a left-shot defenseman who hails from Pittsburgh, PA. He is an ’08 birth year who stands 6-foot-2, 190 pounds, showcasing next-level size already at a young age. He currently plays for the Pittsburgh Penguins Elite 16U AAA team, after playing for the same program at the younger levels as well. He’s played 9 games with them so far this year, notching 3 assists, and he also has played 3 games with the US National Team Development Program U17 team this season. He attended the USA Hockey Selects 16 camp this year and recorded 3 assists in 5 games. He was selected by Waterloo in the 7th round of the 2024 USHL Futures Draft, a selection called a “value pick” by Puck Preps.
Laschon is rated a 3.75 star prospect by Neutral Zone scouting services. Neutral Zone’s scouting reports describe Laschon as a defensive-minded, rangy defenseman with raw tools and tantalizing upside. He’s aggressive and physical but plays a simple game with the puck to advance the play up the ice and out of his own zone. He protects the puck well with his size and reach. He also has shown the ability to jump up in the play and be on the aggressive side in the offensive zone to make a play happen, and has showcased good ability walking the blue line and creating passing lanes. He has “exceptional defensive instincts” and “a wealth of defensive acumen” which when combined with that reach and a good ability to read the play helps him anticipate plays shut down opposing players. He’s got a hard shot from the point and even has played down low on the powerplay where he can be used to screen the goalie and cause chaos in front of the net.
PuckPreps also viewed and assessed Laschon over the last two years at various showcases and tournaments. Scouts called him a “big strong defender” who anchors the blue line and holds the fort to allow his team to be more aggressive and free-flowing. He shuts down opposing plays, can lay the body with his physicality, and moves quickly to close down puck carriers. He crisply passes through the ice and can both evade pressure with his feet and push through checks with his physicality. He skates well for a bigger player and likes to jump passes in the neutral zone to shut down transition, while being able to sit back and nullify zone entrances as well.
Laschon certainly projects to be a defense-first blue liner at Northeastern one day, with the tools and skill to chip in offensively as well, not unlike current and recent Huskies Jackson Dorrington and Hunter McDonald. He looks to be a nice future partner for fellow ’08 commit Nathan Birch, who profiles more as an offensive defenseman, potentially creating a future version of the current pair of classmates Vinny Borgesi and Dorrington. We project that Laschon will enroll to Northeastern in Fall 2027, as a 19 year old player likely with one or two seasons of USHL hockey under his belt.
Congratulations to Leo on his commitment to Northeastern! We look forward to watching his development further.
As always, go Huskies!