It’s back overseas for Lawrence Pilut, who has yet to find any sort of consistency in his professional hockey career. The defenseman has signed a contract with Lausanne HC of the Swiss National League that runs through the 2024-25 season.
Pilut, 27, is scheduled for unrestricted free agency this summer after re-joining the Buffalo Sabres in 2022-23. The Swedish defender played 17 games at the NHL level this year, spending most of his time in the minors with the Rochester Americans.
That sentence could describe most of his time in North America, as, despite rather strong results, Pilut has been constantly shuffled between the two levels. He first joined the Sabres in 2018 after a breakout campaign in the SHL and played 33 games in the NHL. That was followed by 13 appearances in 2019-20, before he decided to head to the KHL for two years.
Overall, Pilut has played 63 NHL games, registering nine points. A two-year deal in Switzerland doesn’t necessarily rule out a North American return, but it does make it much less likely.
He will be free to sign with anyone down the road, but his chance at becoming an NHL regular has likely passed.
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