A former first-round pick of the Ottawa Senators is headed overseas for the second time in his professional career. According to a team announcement, the NL’s HC Lugano has signed defenseman Lassi Thomson to a two-year contract through the 2027-28 season.
Thomson, 25, began his professional career in North America in 2019, when the Senators selected him with the 19th overall pick of that summer’s NHL Draft. He was coming off an impressive season with the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets, scoring 17 goals and 41 points in 63 games.
Hoping to keep his development in an upward trajectory and in a comfortable environment, Ottawa loaned Thomson to the Finnish Liiga’s Ilves for the 2019-20 and 2020-21 campaigns. Unfortunately, the transition back to his native Finland wasn’t as smooth as hoped, as Thomson finished his two-year run with seven goals and 15 points in 57 games.
Regardless, the Senators brought Thomson to North America toward the end of the 2020-21 campaign, and he began his playing time with the organization with the AHL’s Belleville Senators. This became the only place Thomson would excel.
Across four seasons, Thomson registered 24 goals and 93 points in 202 games with the AHL Senators, becoming a fairly consistent two-way defenseman, at least on the offensive side of the puck. He managed a -28 throughout that time, which is especially glaring given that Belleville was a playoff team in two out of his four seasons, and would have been in the 2020-21 campaign had the Calder Cup playoffs been held.
He didn’t have many opportunities in Ottawa, either. Between the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons, Thomson registered five assists in 18 games in the NHL with a -10 rating. His defensive metrics became so unsettling that the Senators chose to leave him in the AHL for the entire 2023-24 season.
It was after the 2023-24 campaign that Thomson felt he had more to offer and returned to the Scandinavian Peninsula to continue his professional career, this time with the SHL’s Malmö Redhawks. He played particularly well, scoring 17 goals and 29 points in 50 games with a +2 rating.
Feeling inspired, Thomson returned to the Senators organization this past season, but again spent most of his time in the AHL. Thomson finished the season with 14 goals and 25 points in 55 AHL games, and three assists in 11 NHL contests. Assuming his departure today is for similar reasons, it’s unlikely that Thomson will return to the North American landscape anytime soon.