Curtis Lazar

Curtis Lazar (born February 2, 1995) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player for the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Lazar was born on February 2, 1995, in Salmon Arm, British Columbia, and he was raised in Vernon as one of Dave and Karen Lazar's four children.

Because he had three siblings, Lazar's parents would have him take a Greyhound Lines bus to the Lower Mainland for his youth ice hockey games with the Vancouver Selects.

Growing up, Lazar supported the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League (NHL), while his favorite NHL player was Ryan Getzlaf and his idol was Joe Sakic.

As captain of the hockey team at Pursuit of Excellence Prep during their 2009–10 season, Lazar scored 57 goals and 115 points in 51 games.

At the 2010 John Reid Memorial Tournament, a minor ice hockey event in Western Canada, Lazar recorded nine goals and 15 points in five games, and he was named the tournament's MVP, Top Forward, and an All-Star.

For his performance that season, Lazar received the 2010 Hockey Now/BC Hockey Hall of Fame Minor Hockey Player Achievement Award.

From there, he spent the 2010–11 season at Okanagan Hockey Academy, with 58 points in 45 under-18 games and nine points in six Canadian Sport School Hockey League games.

The Edmonton Oil Kings of the Western Hockey League (WHL) selected Lazar second overall in the 2010 WHL Bantam Draft.

Because he was only 15 years old when he signed with the team, Lazar could only play five games for the Oil Kings before the 2010–11 Okanagan season ended.

He was called up to join the Edmonton squad on December 7, 2010, for two games, first against the Calgary Hitmen and then against the Kelowna Rockets, and he was returned to Okanagan four games later.

Lazar recorded his first WHL point in the final game of the Oil Kings' regular season when he assisted on T. J. Foster's goal against Darcy Kuemper of the Red Deer Rebels.

The Rebels later swept the Oil Kings in the first round of WHL playoffs, but Lazar scored his first junior ice hockey goal in the elimination game, giving Edmonton their lone point in the 5–1 loss.

After being limited to 10 games during the 2010–11 season, Lazar was able to join the Oil Kings for a full rookie season in 2011–12.

By the holiday break, Lazar had 10 goals for the season, while the Oil Kings' 11-game winning streak was broken when Jordan Weal put the Regina Pats up 6–5 with one second remaining on December 18.

After finishing the regular season with 20 goals and 31 points in 63 games, Lazar continued his offensive run in the playoffs, with seven points in his first four games.

Those seven points led the Oil Kings through their first-round sweep of the Kootenay Ice, the first time that Edmonton had won a WHL postseason series in their modern incarnation.

After defeating the Brandon Wheat Kings and Moose Jaw Warriors in the second and third playoff rounds, the Oil Kings won the Ed Chynoweth Cup after besting the Portland Winterhawks in the best-of-seven championship series.

Lazar was the leading playoff scorer for Edmonton, with eight goals and 19 points in 20 games.

Lazar also captained Team British Columbia at the 2011 Canada Winter Games.

He took the team to a gold medal with 12 goals and 17 points, including back-to-back hat-tricks.

His performance in the Games surpassed Steven Stamkos's goals record and Sidney Crosby's points record.

The Oil Kings then advanced to the 2012 Memorial Cup, where they were eliminated in the tiebreaker game with a 6–1 loss to the Shawinigan Cataractes of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

The Oil Kings named Lazar and Martin Gernat their top rookies at their end-of-season banquet.

Going into the 2012–13 season, Lazar was named an alternate captain for the Oil Kings, behind captain Griffin Reinhart.

That season, he was one of seven Oil Kings to represent Team WHL at the 2012 Subway Super Series.

Although he was not one of the team's top scorers by the midway point of the 2012–13 season, Lazar was one of several players on pace to reach or surpass 30 goals for the year.

It was his second hat-trick in the WHL, following his three-goal performance over the Red Deer Rebels on September 23, 2012.

Lazar finished the 2012–13 regular season as the Oil Kings' scoring leader, with 38 goals, 23 assists, and a +25 plus-minus rating.

The Oil Kings came within one game of repeating as WHL champions, but they fell to the Winterhawks 5–1 in Game 7 of the championship series.

Lazar, meanwhile, added another nine goals and 11 points in 22 postseason games.

After naming him the No. 26 draft-eligible North American skater in their midterm rankings, the NHL Central Scouting Bureau promoted Lazar to No. 20 at the end of the 2012–13 WHL season.

He was selected by the Ottawa Senators in the first round (17th overall) of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft.

He was also one of 14 WHL players who participated in the 2013 CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game, playing on Team Orr.

On January 13, 2013, Lazar recorded his first WHL natural hat-trick when he scored every goal in Edmonton's 3–0 shutout win over the Medicine Hat Tigers.

That June, the Ottawa Senators selected Lazar in the first round, 17th overall, of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft.

He signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Senators on September 17, 2013.

Lazar joined the Senators for their 2013 preseason, before returning to the Oil Kings as their captain for the 2013–14 season.

He missed the first four games of the season while attending Senators camp but began producing offensively immediately upon his return, with eight goals and seven assists through his first seven games.

Lazar played his junior hockey with the Edmonton Oil Kings of the Western Hockey League (WHL) with whom he won the Memorial Cup in 2014.