Senators Defenseman Goes From 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs To Signing In Switzerland

For the second time in three years, pending free agent Lassi Thomson has parted ways with the Senators and signed with a European team.

HC Lugano announced this week that the Senators' 2019 first-round draft pick has signed a two-year deal to play in Switzerland's National League.

As a 25-year-old who hasn't played at least 80 career NHL games, Thomson was scheduled to become a Group 6 unrestricted free agent on July 1st, and seemed to be working his way back onto the NHL radar, if not in Ottawa, then maybe somewhere else in the league.

With the ridiculous amount of injuries on Ottawa's blue line, Thomson was one of the men who helped backfill during the Senators' impressive run to nail down a playoff spot. He got into 11 regular-season games with the Sens, and when Artem Zub was hurt in Game 1 of the playoffs, it was Thomson who subbed in for Game 2.

Thomson left the organization to play one season for Malmo in the Swedish League in 2024-25, but returned to the Senators last summer, hoping there might be an opportunity. However, he signed back here before the Sens traded for Jordan Spence and before anyone knew that Nick Jensen would recover in time for the 2025-26 season.

So that set Thomson up for another season of playing mostly in Belleville, and rumours popped up back in January that Thomson was planning to move back to Europe again at season's end. Clearly, the late-season NHL work wasn't enough to sway him from his plan.

“Obviously, it is kind of frustrating seeing your teammates from Belleville are getting called up, and you're not getting that chance,” Thomson said last month. “But obviously, you have to try to think about it the other way and try to be positive, rather than worry if (a recall) is going to be coming or if it's not coming.