In a down season for the New Jersey Devils, forward Curtis Lazar has had an up year. With a new career high in points, today we take a moment to appreciate a player who has had a strong campaign.
The career trajectory of Curtis Lazar has taken some odd twists and turns on his path to New Jersey. Originally selected back in 2013 in the first round by the Ottawa Senators, Lazar was seen by the Sens as a premium asset. After his first pair of seasons in the pros, however, the Sens sent him to the Calgary Flames; the trade did little to spark the offensive upside Lazar supposedly possessed. He would bounce around a few more teams (Buffalo, Boston and Vancouver along with a couple of AHL stints) before the Devils would acquire him last trade deadline.
Knowing that the Devils roster would be in flux in the offseason due to a number of expiring contracts, Lazar’s acquisition was seen as a safe fourth line/13th forward type of player. Known now more for his defense than his offense, Lazar’s place in the Devils lineup wasn’t even guaranteed in 2023-24. After all, he had only played in four regular season contests after coming over from the Canucks and an additional six in the playoffs. Even with the aforementioned departing players, there were others such as Nolan Foote who looked to be pushing for those same spots.
Nothing about this season went to plan, and rather than finding himself in a press box rotation, Lazar has found himself a regular in the Devils bottom six forwards. While expectations upon him were low, I would say he has exceeded any beyond reason, even with this struggling Devils team. Lazar is not a star player, he wasn’t someone we expected to be shouldering a heavy offensive load on a nightly basis. We also weren’t expecting him to play a mistake-free game (in hindsight, especially on this year’s squad) each time he was in the lineup.
With the season he’s had, I think Lazar deserves some flowers. He’s contributed a fairly solid 24 points (6 goals, 18 assists) in 67 contests while also providing a variety of intangibles for the team. Need a check finished? No problem, Lazar will finish his. Need a guy who’s willing to sacrifice the body in the defensive zone and/or on the penalty kill? He checks that box too. Defend the puck until he can push it to Jack Hughes for an empty net goal? He did that just the other night!
Lazar has been asked to do a little bit of everything this season, and he’s been rewarded with his new career highs in assists and points. On nights where the team as a whole has looked and/or play poorly, Lazar is still out there giving the utmost effort. You can argue about his skill level, but you can never say that he takes a shift off, and in a season where things have not gone right, I think recognizing someone who’s season did go right is a nice change of pace from the doom and gloom of the impending early start to the offseason.
Curtis Lazar is not a star for the New Jersey Devils, but he is certainly a player whose season deserves to be celebrated. Hopefully, this is him hitting his stride, and he can continue to put up points for the team in the future when the rest of the team bounces back. If he does, he can be another good piece for the Devils and help them to keep their window of contention open.
Now I’d like to hear your thoughts on the 2023-24 season of Curtis Lazar; are you as pleased with him as I am? What is your favorite Lazar memory from his time so far with the Devils? What do you expect from him next season? Leave any and all comments below and thanks as always for reading!