Curtis Lazar

At 29 years old, Curtis Lazar has this physical status:

Curtis Lazar (born February 2, 1995) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player who is currently playing for the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League (NHL).

In the first round (17th overall) of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, Lazar was chosen by the Ottawa Senators.

He played his junior hockey with the Edmonton Oil Kings of the Western Hockey League (WHL), with whom he also dominated the 2014 Memorial Cup Championships.

Early life

Lazar was born in Salmon Arm, British Columbia, on February 2, 1995, and he was raised in Vernon as one of Dave and Karen Lazar's four children. Lazar's parents would have him ride a Greyhound Lines bus to the Lower Mainland for his youth ice hockey games with the Vancouver Selects because he had three siblings. Growing up, Lazar loved the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League (NHL), while his favorite NHL player was Ryan Getzlaf and his idol was Joe Sakic.

Lazar was captain of the Pursuit of Excellence Prep during the 2009–2010 season, scoring 57 goals and 115 points in 51 games. In five games, Lazar was rated top forward and an All-Star at the 2010 John Reid Memorial Tournament, a minor ice hockey tournament in Western Canada. Lazar was awarded the 2010 Hockey Now/BC Hockey Hall of Fame Minor Hockey Player Achievement Award for his efforts during the 2010 season. He spent his time at Okanagan Hockey Academy in 2010–11 seasons, scoring 58 points in 45 under-18 games and nine points in six Canadian Sport School Hockey League games. At the 2011 Canada Winter Games, Lazar captained Team British Columbia. With 12 goals and 17 points, including back-to-back hat-tricks, he led the team to a gold medal. His success in the Games surpassed Steven Stamkos' goals and Sidney Crosby's points record.

Personal life

Lazar and his partner Reanne have one child together. Owen's uncle was born in April 2021.

In Lazar's game against the Boston Bruins, he went viral for a hamburger that had been thrown onto the ice during his rookie season. In honor of goaltender Andrew Hammond, who was nicknamed "The Hamburglar," fans began throwing burgers at games. Many years after the incident, Lazar explained that the hamburger, which had stung him as he sat on the Senator's bench, was fully wrapped, not "on the ice bare or anything."

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Playing career

In the 2010 WHL Bantam Draft, the Edmonton Oil Kings of the Western Hockey League (WHL) selected Lazar second overall. Because he was just 15 years old when he joined the team, Lazar could only play five games for the Oil Kings until the 2010–11 Okanagan season came. He was called up to the Edmonton squad on December 7, 2010, first against the Calgary Hitmen and then against the Kelowna Rockets, and then the Edmonton Trail Blazers, and then back to Okanagan four games later. Lazar assisted on T. J. during his first WHL game of the Oil Kings' regular season. Foster's aim against the Red Deer Rebels' Darcy Kuemper was defeated. In the first round of WHL playoffs, the Rebels defeated the Oil Kings, but Lazar scored his first junior ice hockey goal in the elimination game, giving Edmonton their lone point in their 5–1 loss.

Lazar was able to join the Oil Kings for a complete rookie season in 2011–12 after being limited to ten games during the 2010–11 season. Lazar had 10 goals for the season by the holiday break, while the Oil Kings' 11-game winning streak was snapped when Jordan Weal brought the Regina Pats up 6–5 with just one second left on December 18. Lazar continued his offensive play in the playoffs after finishing the regular season with 20 goals and 31 points in 63 games. Edmonton's seven points led to their first-round victory over the Kootenay Ice, the first time Edmonton has won a WHL postseason series in their modern form. The Oil Kings won the Ed Chynoweth Cup after defeating the Brandon Wheat Kings and Moose Jaw Warriors in the second and third playoff rounds, beating the Portland Winterhawks in the best-of-seven championship series. With eight goals and 19 points in 20 games, Lazar was Edmonton's top playoff scorer. The Oil Kings then advanced to the 2012 Memorial Cup, where they were eliminated in the tiebreaker game against the Shawinigan Cataractes of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, losing 6-1. At their end-of-season banquet, the Oil Kings announced Lazar and Martin Gernat their top rookies.

Lazar was named an alternate captain for the Oil Kings during the 2012–13 season, behind captain Griffin Reinhart. He was one of seven Oil Kings to represent Team WHL at the 2012 Subway Super Series during the 2012 season. He was also one of 14 WHL players to play on Team Orr in the 2013 CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game. Despite the fact that Lazar was not one of the team's top scorers by the midway point of the 2012–2013 season, he was one of many players on track to reach or exceed 30 goals for the year. Lazar scored every goal in Edmonton's 3–0 shutout victory over the Medicine Hat Tigers on January 13, 2013. Following his three-goal victory over the Red Deer Rebels on September 23, 2012, he was his second hat-trick in the WHL. Lazar led the Oil Kings' scoring leader during the 2012–13 season, with 38 goals, 23 assists, and a +25 plus-minus rating. In Game 7 of the championship series, the Oil Kings came within one game of repeating as WHL champions, but the Winterhawks beat the Winterhawks 5-1. In 22 playoff games, Lazar scored nine goals and 11 points.

Since being named the No. 1 in the United States, he has become known as the No. 1. The NHL Central Scouting Bureau ranked Lazar No. 26 among the nation's top draft-eligible North American skaters in their midterm rankings, boosting him to No. 1 on the NHL Central Scouting Bureau. At the end of the 2012–13 WHL season, 20 will be 19 years old. In the first round, the Ottawa Senators selected Lazar, the 17th overall, of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, in June. On September 17, 2013, he began a three-year, entry-level deal with the Senators.

Lazar joined the Senators in 2013 as their captain before returning to the Oil Kings for the 2013-14 season. He missed the first four games of the season while attending Senators camp but after his return, he began scoring offensively, with eight goals and seven assists in his first seven games. In 2013, he appeared in the Subway Super Series for the first time as a captain for Team WHL. While representing Canada internationally, Lazar played another month in December, but after his return to the Regina Pats on January 22, he scored his second straight games against the Regina Pats on January 22. Lazar was given the inaugural Kristians Pelss Oil Kings award, which is given to the player who best represents the team both on and off the ice, as well as the WHL Eastern Conference First All-Star Team, with a team-leading 41 goals during the regular season. After scoring 41 goals and 76 points in 58 regular season games, Lazar scored another ten goals and 22 points in 21 playoff games as the Oil Kings defeated the Winterhawks to capture Lazar's second Ed Chynoweth Cup and the 2014 Memorial Cup. Lazar scored a three-overtime goal against the Val-d'Or Foreurs in the Memorial Cup semifinals, bringing an end to the longest match in tournament history. Edmonton defeated the Guelph Storm 6-3, and Lazar received the George Parsons Trophy for the most sportsmanlike player.

Lazar, 19, was the only one named to the Senators' 2014-2015 opening-night roster, making his NHL debut on October 9, 2014, against the Nashville Predators. Mike Hoffman and Mark Stone, his coworkers, were both rookies, and the group was dubbed the "Kids Line" in honor of its nickname. The Senators had the opportunity to return Lazar to the Oil Kings within ten games of his debut without burning a year of his entry-level contract, but coach Paul MacLean was impressed by his early results and decided not to keep him beyond that point. He scored his first NHL goal on December 15, but the Senators lost the game 5–4 to the Buffalo Sabres in a shootout, but the Senators lost the game 5–4. He had six goals and 15 points in 67 games during his rookie season. Although the Senators lost their first-round series in the 2015 Stanley Cup playoffs to the Montreal Canadiens, the third line, in which Lazar played with Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Erik Condra, showed promise for future seasons.

Lazar, a center, also served on the wings for the Senators during the 2015-2016 season to make room for veteran centers Pageau and Zack Smith. Lazar had played in all 12 forward slots on the Senators' roster, and he told reporters he was capable of playing defense if necessary. Despite his versatility, Lazar had trouble scoring in his sophomore season: by the end of November, he had only two goals, one of which came on a dead net, and he began watching videos of himself with the Oil Kings to isolate his problems. In a 4–1 loss to the Anaheim Ducks, he finally broke a 26-game scoring drought on January 13, giving the Senators their only goal. In totality, Lazar made only modest offensive improvement from his rookie season, with six goals and 20 points in 76 games.

He started the 2016–17 season with the Binghamton Senators, Ottawa's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, to regain his power right away before the Senators' 2016 training camp. Lazar was promoted back to Ottawa on November 19, assisting the team with injuries to Hoffman, Bobby Ryan, and Clarke MacArthur. However, missing the start of the season made it impossible for Lazar to establish a presence with the Senators, as he only had one assist in 33 games. In addition, the signings of veteran forward Alex Burrows and Viktor St.lberg gave Lazar no opportunity to play as the season progressed, and he was a healthy scratch for five of his last nine games with Ottawa.

The Senators traded Lazar and Michael Kostka to the Calgary Flames in exchange for Jyrki Jokipakka and a second-round pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, on March 1, 2017. After the trade, he was a healthy scratch for the first seven games, but Calgary coach Glen Gulutzan didn't want to change a lineup that had already proven competitive to that point. Micheal Ferland finally joined the lineup on March 19, after being placed under surveillance for the mumps. That night, the Flames defeated the Los Angeles Kings 5–2. Since his time in the game where he scored a goal and two assists, Lazar appeared in just four regular season games. Lazar and Freddie Hamilton were drafted into the lineup in place of Matt Stajan and Lance Bouma, with the Flames facing elimination by the Anaheim Ducks in the first round of 2017 Stanley Cup playoffs. The Ducks won the game and the series, excluding Calgary from playoff contention.

Lazar, a restricted free agent for the 2016–17 season, has signed a two-year, $1.9 million contract extension with the Flames, which was effective on July 14, 2017. Mark Jankowski and Sam Bennett, two other former first-round draft picks who had struggled with their previous teams, began the 2017-18 season on a line. With Matt Stajan and Ryan Lomberg, Gulutzan dropped Lazar to the fourth line by the end of January. Lazar scored his first goal of the 2017-18 season with them, profiting from a goaltender error by New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. The game was tied by Lazar's goal, but the Flames lost 4–3 to the Rangers. Despite having only two goals and five assists in 51 games, Lazar played as a fourth-line grinder in a much more consistent way within the Flames: Despite having only two goals and five assists in his first two games, he had far fewer healthy scratches in the second half of the season. Lazar scored two goals and 12 points for the team as well as 23 penalty minutes in 65 regular season games for the Flames. Meanwhile, the Flames missed the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs due to goaltender Mike Smith's absence, sending the team on a losing stretch in February.

The Flames' two extra forwards, Lazar and Garnet Hathaway, were introduced in the 2018-19 season. They decided to place Lazar on waivers, and when he went unclaimed, he was sent to the Stockton Heat, Calgary's AHL affiliate, to start the season. Lazar was dissatisfied with his promotion, believing that more playing time in Stockton would be more helpful to his growth than in Calgary. Playing in Stockton increased Lazar's confidence and his offensive skills: by the halfway point of the season, he was fourth on the team with 14 goals and 33 points in 42 games, and he was the fourth on the team with 14 goals and 33 points in 42 games, and he was invited to the 2019 AHL All-Star Classic. On February 15, 2019, Lazar was promoted to Calgary; at that time, he had 16 goals and 36 points in Stockton. The majority of the call-up was as a healthy scratch and was sent back to work three weeks later, but Lazar had another promotion opportunity in mid-March. In one game for Calgary, Lazar scored 20 goals and finished with 41 points, but in 57 AHL games, he was only on one game, but in 57 AHL games, he scored 20 goals and finished with 41 points. Calgary decided not to extend a qualifying offer to Lazar at the end of the season, making him an unrestricted free agent.

On July 1, 2019, the Buffalo Sabres agreed to a one-year, $700,000.000 contract. He was one of the last moves for the team to trim their opening-night roster down to 23 players, and Lazar's season with the AHL Rochester Americans began in 2019.

The Sabres announced that Lazar had agreed to a two-year, $1.6 million contract extension on September 24, 2020. Lazar stayed on the Sabres roster in the pandemic 2021–21 season, scoring 3 goals and 9 points in 33 regular season games for the cellar-dwelling Sabres.

Lazar was traded by the Sabres and Taylor Hall to the Boston Bruins in exchange for Anders Bjork and a 2021 second-round draft pick, putting the Sabres out of playoff contention and on the eve of the trade deadline.

On July 13, 2022, Lazar was signed to a three-year, $3 million contract with the Vancouver Canucks, as a free agent from the Bruins who had re-established himself in the NHL.

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