Swiss National League club Lausanne HC has signed veteran winger Dominik Kahun to a three-year deal, per a team announcement. While he spent the beginning of the season with rival SC Bern, he’s been released from his deal there and will join Lausanne immediately.
The news all but rules out an NHL return for Kahun, who’s played exclusively in Switzerland since his three-year run in the NHL from 2018 to 2021. In 186 games with the Blackhawks, Penguins, Sabres, and Oilers, Kahun produced a solid 34-49–83 scoring line in bottom-six minutes. After going non-tendered by Edmonton in the 2021 offseason, Kahun opted for a starring role overseas instead of a depth one in the NHL and inked a three-year deal with Bern.
That contract started off on a high note. Kahun immediately led Bern in scoring with 16-28–44 in 42 games during his first season in the NL, and the move overseas allowed him to pot a goal and two assists at the 2022 Winter Olympics for his native Germany. The performance led Bern to sign Kahun to another three-year extension with two years remaining on his current deal, set to keep him with the club through the 2026-27 season. Injuries limited him to four goals in 23 regular-season games in 2022-23, but he still managed 21 points and scored six times in nine postseason games. A healthy Kahun took things to new heights last season, leading the league with 35 assists in 47 games.
Unfortunately, he’s fallen off the map in 2024-25. He last played for Bern in late January, ending his tenure there with 2-7–9 with a minus-seven rating in 24 games. The 5’11” winger, who won three straight DEL titles before coming over to the NHL and was a member of Germany’s silver-medal winning effort at the 2018 Olympics, now hopes to revitalize his career on a league-leading Lausanne club that’s the only NL side so far to clinch a postseason berth. They also recently added ex-NHLer Brendan Perlini and are captained by 590-game NHL veteran Michael Raffl.
Why wouldn’t any player at the end of their career go over to Europe and play . I would of gone to Switzerland for $300,000 to play.