The Ottawa Senators and Ilves have agreed on terms regarding Lassi Thomson’s contract. The 19-year-old defenseman, who made an entry-level NHL contract a year ago, stays at Ilves with an open-ended loan agreement.
Having gone through the player development path in Ilves, Lassi Thomson moved to North American WHL junior league for the 2018-2019 season where he represented the Kelowna Rockets. In 63 games he recorded 17 goals and 41 points and with that Thomson led the rookie defensemen in points. Before moving to WHL Thomson had just won the world championship with the Finnish U18 national team in 2018. After his trip to WHL, Thomson signed a 2+1 contract with Ilves. On the very top of that, he was then drafted by the Ottawa Senators.
Thomson played last season with Ilves on a loan as well since he already had signed a three-year entry level contract with the Senators. Thomson played 39 games and recorded seven goals and 13 points in Liiga. He was also the captain of the Finnish U20 national team and recorded three assists in seven games at the world junior championship tournament.
-We want to thank both the Ottawa Senators and Lassi for making this type of arrangement possible. This solution serves all the parties involved extremely well. As our home-grown player, Lassi plays ‘Ilves-like’ dynamic hockey. His skating ability, shooting and his will to battle and compete is something you like to watch, comments the sports director of Ilves Timo Koskela.
In addition to Thomson, goalie Lukás Dostál and forwards Matias Maccelli and Arttu Ruotsalainen start the season with Ilves with an open-ended loan agreement.
