‘I can’t wait for a fresh start’
After a tough season with the Senators, Lazar says he’s ready to move on
A few weeks ago, Curtis Lazar’s agent J.P. Barry met with Ottawa Senators general manager Pierre Dorion to discuss his client’s situation.
Frustrated over a lack of playing time, the two parties were searching for a solution, and on Wednesday, the Calgary Flames provided it.
Striking a deal with Dorion at the 11th hour of the 3 p.m. ET, NHL deadline, Flames GM Brad Treliving was able to acquire Lazar, along with defenceman Mike Kostka, 31, for a second-round pick in the 2017 draft and defenceman Jyrki Jokipakka.
For the Flames, the deal is all about untapped potential. For Lazar, it’s an opportunity to prove he still has potential.
“It’s been a very difficult year, wanting to make an impact but not being able to do that with this team,” said Lazar, calling from the Ottawa International Airport as he boarded an evening flight to Calgary. “It was tough, but I’m ready to move on. I can’t wait for a fresh start in Calgary.”
Lazar’s trade was one of the last deals to be finalized Wednesday, which even came as a surprise to him. But his priorities were in order.
“I literally found out 15 minutes before the deadline,” Lazar said. “The first thing I did was rush my dog to the dog-sitter. I had to say goodbye to the little guy — he’s a French bulldog and his name is Duke. My family is probably going to be out here soon to pack up some more stuff and grab the dog and bring him out to Calgary.”
Drafted 17th overall by the Senators in 2013, Lazar broke onto the NHL scene in the 2014-15 season after capping off a sparkling junior career by winning a Memorial Cup with the Oil Kings in 2014. He was loaned to the Canadian junior team and captured a gold medal at the 2015 world junior championships.
A point-producer in junior, Lazar’s offensive flair has not translated into NHL numbers. Over 176 NHL games, the 22-year-old has only scored 12 goals and 24 assists.
After being diagnosed with mononucleosis at the end of the off-season, Lazar missed the Senators’ 2016 training camp and was sent down to the American Hockey League at the start of the 2016-17 season to re-gain his conditioning. He had three goals in 13 games with the club’s affiliate in Binghamton when he was recalled back to Ottawa in mid-November.
But conditioning or not, he never really gained new head coach Guy Boucher’s trust.
“Obviously, the new staff was implemented in Ottawa and trying to leave their mark,” Lazar said.
Once part of the Senators core group of up-and-comers — Mark Stone, Mike Hoffman, and Kyle Turris — it became painfully obvious that he wasn’t factoring into their long-term plans.
Lazar’s minutes dropped significantly. In 33 games with the Senators, he averaged 8:48 per night with an uneventful stat-line — one assist and a minus-10 rating.
Lazar fell on the team’s depth chart with the off-season acquisition of Tom Pyatt — who played for Guy Boucher in Switzerland — and even further back when the Senators made pre-NHL trade deadline deals by picking up Alex Burrows from the Vancouver Canucks and Viktor Stalberg from the Carolina Hurricanes. And the Flames were on the top of his list.