Curtis Lazar

Curtis Lazar (born February 2, 1995) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player for the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected by the Ottawa Senators in the first round (17th overall) of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft.

Lazar played his junior hockey with the Edmonton Oil Kings of the Western Hockey League (WHL) with whom he won the Memorial Cup in 2014.

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

As captain of the hockey team at Pursuit of Excellence Prep during their 2009–10 season, Lazar scored 57 goals and 115 points in 51 games. At the 2010 John Reid Memorial Tournament, a minor ice hockey event in Western Canada, Lazar recorded nine goals and 15 points in five games, and he was named the tournament's MVP, Top Forward, and an All-Star. For his performance that season, Lazar received the 2010 Hockey Now/BC Hockey Hall of Fame Minor Hockey Player Achievement Award. From there, he spent the 2010–11 season at Okanagan Hockey Academy, with 58 points in 45 under-18 games and nine points in six Canadian Sport School Hockey League games. Lazar also captained Team British Columbia at the 2011 Canada Winter Games. He took the team to a gold medal with 12 goals and 17 points, including back-to-back hat-tricks. His performance in the Games surpassed Steven Stamkos's goals record and Sidney Crosby's points record.

Junior
The Edmonton Oil Kings of the Western Hockey League (WHL) selected Lazar second overall in the 2010 WHL Bantam Draft. Because he was only 15 years old when he signed with the team, Lazar could only play five games for the Oil Kings before the 2010–11 Okanagan season ended. He was called up to join the Edmonton squad on December 7, 2010, for two games, first against the Calgary Hitmen and then against the Kelowna Rockets, and he was returned to Okanagan four games later. Lazar recorded his first WHL point in the final game of the Oil Kings' regular season when he assisted on T. J. Foster's goal against Darcy Kuemper of the Red Deer Rebels. The Rebels later swept the Oil Kings in the first round of WHL playoffs, but Lazar scored his first junior ice hockey goal in the elimination game, giving Edmonton their lone point in the 5–1 loss.

After being limited to 10 games during the 2010–11 season, Lazar was able to join the Oil Kings for a full rookie season in 2011–12. By the holiday break, Lazar had 10 goals for the season, while the Oil Kings' 11-game winning streak was broken when Jordan Weal put the Regina Pats up 6–5 with one second remaining on December 18. After finishing the regular season with 20 goals and 31 points in 63 games, Lazar continued his offensive run in the playoffs, with seven points in his first four games. Those seven points led the Oil Kings through their first-round sweep of the Kootenay Ice, the first time that Edmonton had won a WHL postseason series in their modern incarnation. After defeating the Brandon Wheat Kings and Moose Jaw Warriors in the second and third playoff rounds, the Oil Kings won the Ed Chynoweth Cup after besting the Portland Winterhawks in the best-of-seven championship series. Lazar was the leading playoff scorer for Edmonton, with eight goals and 19 points in 20 games. The Oil Kings then advanced to the 2012 Memorial Cup, where they were eliminated in the tiebreaker game with a 6–1 loss to the Shawinigan Cataractes of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The Oil Kings named Lazar and Martin Gernat their top rookies at their end-of-season banquet.

Going into the 2012–13 season, Lazar was named an alternate captain for the Oil Kings, behind captain Griffin Reinhart. That season, he was one of seven Oil Kings to represent Team WHL at the 2012 Subway Super Series. He was also one of 14 WHL players who participated in the 2013 CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game, playing on Team Orr. Although he was not one of the team's top scorers by the midway point of the 2012–13 season, Lazar was one of several players on pace to reach or surpass 30 goals for the year. On January 13, 2013, Lazar recorded his first WHL natural hat-trick when he scored every goal in Edmonton's 3–0 shutout win over the Medicine Hat Tigers. It was his second hat-trick in the WHL, following his three-goal performance over the Red Deer Rebels on September 23, 2012. Lazar finished the 2012–13 regular season as the Oil Kings' scoring leader, with 38 goals, 23 assists, and a +25 plus-minus rating. The Oil Kings came within one game of repeating as WHL champions, but they fell to the Winterhawks 5–1 in Game 7 of the championship series. Lazar, meanwhile, added another nine goals and 11 points in 22 postseason games.

After naming him the No. 26 draft-eligible North American skater in their midterm rankings, the NHL Central Scouting Bureau promoted Lazar to No. 20 at the end of the 2012–13 WHL season. That June, the Ottawa Senators selected Lazar in the first round, 17th overall, of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. He signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Senators on September 17, 2013.

Lazar joined the Senators for their 2013 preseason, before returning to the Oil Kings as their captain for the 2013–14 season. He missed the first four games of the season while attending Senators camp but began producing offensively immediately upon his return, with eight goals and seven assists through his first seven games. He participated in the Subway Super Series again in 2013, this time as a captain for Team WHL. He missed another stretch of games in December while representing Canada internationally, but upon his January return, Lazar went on another scoring streak, including a natural hat-trick against the Regina Pats on January 22. Finishing the regular season with a team-leading 41 goals, Lazar received the inaugural Kristians Pelss Oil Kings award, given to the player who best exemplifies the team on and off the ice, and he was also named to the WHL Eastern Conference First All-Star Team. After scoring 41 goals and 76 points in 58 regular season games, Lazar added another 10 goals and 22 points in 21 playoff games as the Oil Kings defeated the Winterhawks to capture Lazar's second Ed Chynoweth Cup and reach the 2014 Memorial Cup. With his triple-overtime goal against the Val-d'Or Foreurs in the Memorial Cup semifinals, Lazar won the game for the Oil Kings 3–2 and put an end to the longest game in tournament history. Edmonton won the Cup with a 6–3 victory over the Guelph Storm, and Lazar received the George Parsons Trophy for the most sportsmanlike player.

Ottawa Senators
At 19 years old, Lazar was the only teenager named to the Senators' 2014–15 opening-night roster, making his NHL debut on October 9, 2014, for Ottawa's 3–2 loss to the Nashville Predators. His linemates, Mike Hoffman and Mark Stone, were also rookies, and the trio was referred to as the "Kids Line". The Senators had the opportunity to return Lazar to the Oil Kings within 10 games of his debut without burning a year of his entry-level contract, but coach Paul MacLean was impressed by his early performance and chose to retain 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. He finished the regular rookie season with six goals and 15 points in 67 games. While the Senators lost their opening-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.

Typically a centre, Lazar also played on the wings for the Senators during the 2015–16 season to make room for veteran centers Pageau and Zack Smith. Within the first 14 games of the season, Lazar had played in all 12 forward slots on the Senators' roster, and he told reporters he was amenable to playing defense if needed. Despite his versatility, Lazar had difficulty scoring in his sophomore season: by the end of November, he had only two goals, one of which came on an empty net, and he began watching videos of himself with the Oil Kings to isolate his troubles. He finally broke a 26-game scoring drought on January 13, giving the Senators their only goal in a 4–1 loss to the Anaheim Ducks. Altogether, Lazar showed only a mild offensive improvement from his rookie season, with six goals and 20 points in 76 games.

Lazar contracted mononucleosis just before the Senators' 2016 training camp, and he began the 2016–17 season with the Binghamton Senators, Ottawa's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, to regain his strength. After scoring three goals in 13 AHL games, Lazar was promoted back to Ottawa on November 19, helping the team through injuries to Hoffman, Bobby Ryan, and Clarke MacArthur. Missing the beginning of the season made it difficult for Lazar to establish a presence with the Senators, however, and he recorded only one assist in 33 games. Additionally, the acquisitions of veteran forwards Alex Burrows and Viktor Stålberg gave Lazar little opportunity to play as the season progressed, and he was a healthy scratch for five of his last nine games with Ottawa.

Calgary Flames
On March 1, 2017, the NHL trading deadline, the Senators sent Lazar and Michael Kostka to the Calgary Flames in exchange for Jyrki Jokipakka and a second-round selection in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. He was a healthy scratch for the first seven games after the trade, as Calgary coach Glen Gulutzan did not want to alter a lineup that had proven successful to that point. He finally entered the lineup on March 19, when Micheal Ferland was placed under observation for the mumps. The Flames defeated the Los Angeles Kings 5–2 that night. Lazar appeared in only four regular season games after his trade, during which he scored a goal and two assists. With the Flames facing elimination by the Anaheim Ducks in the first round of 2017 Stanley Cup playoffs, Lazar and Freddie Hamilton drew into the lineup in place of Matt Stajan and Lance Bouma. The Ducks took the game and the series, eliminating Calgary from postseason contention.

A restricted free agent at the end of the 2016–17 season, Lazar signed a two-year, $1.9 million contract extension with the Flames on July 14, 2017. He started the 2017–18 season on a line with Mark Jankowski and Sam Bennett, two other former first-round draft picks who had struggled with their previous teams. By the end of January, Gulutzan dropped Lazar to the fourth line with Matt Stajan and Ryan Lomberg. It was with them that Lazar scored his first goal of the 2017–18 season, taking advantage of a misstep from New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. Lazar's goal tied the game, but the Flames ultimately lost 4–3 to the Rangers. Playing as a fourth-line grinder gave Lazar a steadier role within the Flames: despite having only two goals and five assists through 51 games, he received far fewer healthy scratches in the second half of the season. Playing in 65 regular season games for the Flames, Lazar contributed two goals and 12 points for the team, as well as 23 penalty minutes. The Flames, meanwhile, missed the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs when an injury to goaltender Mike Smith sent the team on a losing stretch in February.

The Flames began the 2018–19 season with two extra forwards, Lazar and Garnet Hathaway. They elected to place Lazar on waivers, and when he went unclaimed, he was assigned to the Stockton Heat, Calgary's AHL affiliate, to begin the season. Lazar was amenable to the demotion, believing that more frequent playing time in Stockton would be more beneficial for his development than healthy scratches in Calgary. Playing in Stockton improved Lazar's confidence and his offensive abilities: by the halfway point of the season, he was fourth on the team with 14 goals and 33 points in 42 games, and he received an invitation to the 2019 AHL All-Star Classic. Lazar was promoted back to Calgary on February 15, 2019; at that point, he had 16 goals and 36 points in Stockton. He spent most of the call-up as a healthy scratch and was sent back down three weeks later, but a series of illnesses and injuries in mid-March created another promotion opportunity for Lazar. He ended up appearing in only one game for Calgary, but in 57 AHL games, Lazar scored 20 goals and finished with 41 points. Calgary opted not to extend a qualifying offer to Lazar at the end of the season, making him an unrestricted free agent.

Buffalo Sabres
The Buffalo Sabres signed Lazar to a one-year, $700,000 contract on July 1, 2019. He was one of the last cuts that the team made to bring their opening-night roster down to 23 players, and Lazar began the 2019–20 season with the AHL Rochester Americans.

On September 24, 2020, the Sabres signed Lazar to a two-year, $1.6 million contract extension. In the pandemic delayed 2020–21 season, Lazar remained on the Sabres roster, securing a third-line role in posting 5 goals and 9 points through 33 regular season games for the cellar-dwelling Sabres.

Boston Bruins
With the Sabres out of playoff contention and on the eve of the trade deadline, Lazar was traded by the Sabres along with Taylor Hall to the Boston Bruins in exchange for Anders Bjork and a 2021 second-round draft pick on April 11, 2021.

Vancouver Canucks
As a free agent from the Bruins, having re-established himself within the NHL, Lazar was signed to a three-year, $3 million contract with the Vancouver Canucks on July 13, 2022.

New Jersey Devils
On March 3, 2023, the Canucks traded Lazar to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for a fourth-round pick in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft.

Personal life
Lazar and his wife have two sons.

During his rookie season, Lazar went viral for eating a hamburger that had been thrown onto the ice in the Senators' game against the Boston Bruins. Fans had begun throwing burgers during games in celebration of goaltender Andrew Hammond, who was nicknamed "The Hamburglar". Several years after the incident, Lazar clarified that the hamburger, which had struck him as he sat on the Senators' bench, was fully wrapped, not "on the ice bare or anything".