Former NHLer Curtis Lazar signs in Switzerland

A familiar name for NHL fans is headed overseas to play in Europe.

On Thursday, Swiss team Lausanne HC announced that have signed forward Curtis Lazar for the remainder of the 2026-27 season, which just began on Tuesday.

Lausanne HC plays in The National League, which is the top professional hockey league in Switzerland. Lazar will join former NHLers such as winger Drake Caggiula and center Austin Czarnik on their roster.

Lazar, 31, played 45 games for the Edmonton Oilers last season, putting up just four goals and two assists for six points. He also missed a significant amount of the season due to multiple injuries, including an upper-body injury in November and an undisclosed injury in March.

The Salmon Arm, B.C. native was initially selected 17th overall by the Ottawa Senators in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft.

Lazar had a strong four-year junior career in the Western Hockey League (WHL) with the Edmonton Oil Kings, including his final season in which he put up 41 goals and 35 assists for 76 points in 58 games before contributing 10 goals and 12 assists for 22 points in 21 playoff games en route to the Oil Kings winning the Memorial Cup.

He jumped directly to the NHL for his rookie season of 2014-15, when he notched six goals and nine assists for 15 points in 67 games for the Senators. Lazar played the first two-plus years of his NHL career in Ottawa before being deal at the 2017 trade deadline to the Calgary Flames. After two-plus years in Calgary, he went on to have stints for the Buffalo Sabres, Boston Bruins, Vancouver Canucks, and New Jersey Devils before signing with the Oilers ahead of last season.

Over the course of his NHL career, Lazar has compiled 51 goals and 80 assists for 131 points in 617 games.