Curtis Lazar already finding home on Bruins fourth line - and in locker room

Curtis Lazar wasn't going to need a stocked library of podcasts or tunes to help occupy his mind during his seven-hour, 450-mile drive from Buffalo to Boston last week.

While the 26-year-old forward had been traded once already in NHL career (Ottawa to Calgary back in March 2017), the whirlwind that comes from packing your bags and leaving your old apartment or home in the span of just a few hours doesn't get any easier for any player — especially for Lazar and his wife, Reanne, who welcomed a baby boy to the world earlier this month.

So when Lazar got the call late on April 11 that he was indeed heading to the Bruins alongside his Sabres teammate in Taylor Hall, most of the thoughts that raced through his head revolved around the upheaval with his growing family and the headaches that come with such a move.

And of course, with a new trade comes a new set of expectations — with Lazar leaving one organization mired in the depths of the East Division and joining a veteran locker room with its eyes set on another Cup run this summer. And while nerves of joining a new team are ever-present for any player that switches sweaters during the course of a season, with those shifted expectations come new opportunities.

"I think that's just human nature," Lazar said of the nerves of joining a new team. "You know, it's no different from my first year in Ottawa when I got traded to Calgary. When I joined Buffalo too, I mean, you're in a new environment. Change is different. But it brings out the best in you and those are the character traits that I pride myself in as well. And just being myself. I think I'm a pretty down-to-earth guy. As you guys can tell — I'm always smiling. I'm always having fun and the team likes that. Being able to be yourself at the rink and on the ice, it's big for your confidence. Continue just to be yourself and you find your niche."

Just a week after charting his course east from Buffalo, the Lazar family has now fully settled into their new digs in Boston. And, much to the Bruins' delight, Lazar has already seemed to fit seamlessly on a fourth line whose resurgence couldn't have come at a better time.



As we noted on Monday, the continued dominance of the Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak line and the immediate contributions of the Hall-Krejci-Smith line have fueled Boston's recent resurgence, but the play of the Kuraly-Lazar-Wagner has also been nothing short of fantastic since the deadline. Through five games now, the Bruins are holding an absurd 23-9 edge in scoring chances during their new fourth line's 43:01 of 5v5 ice time — an impressive stat that becomes downright mind-boggling when you consider the fact that just 14.81% of their faceoffs have been set in the offensive zone.

Those hard-working shifts and forechecking efforts were finally rewarded on Tuesday night with points on the board, with both Lazar and Kuraly credited with helpers on Connor Clifton's second-period tally.

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"We embrace the role that we're in," Lazar said of his fit on the B's fourth line. "It's a gritty situation. I think you guys see most of our starts on the ice are in the D zone. So for us to build some momentum or generate offense — we got to push that puck 200 feet down the ice. And we do take a lot of pride in that. Every shift, we work at it. We don't take a game or anything off. I mean, mistakes are gonna happen. But it's not from the lack of our work ethic. And we're able to read and support enough with each other, we find our tendencies ... And we have fun with that. And again, there are two great guys that obviously have chemistry in the past, so it's been pretty easy for me just to kind of slide in and help out."

Of course, meshing on the ice with new linemates goes a long way toward settling into a new team, but the transition off the ice has also been seamless, in Lazar's eyes. Given the COVID protocols that prohibit much in terms of off-ice interactions between teammates — with team dinners on the road and even stopping by each other's hotel rooms off-limits – it can be hard for new players to fully assimilate into a new team, especially one as tight-knit as this Bruins roster.

But Lazar hasn't dealt with such issues — parroting earlier sentiments shared by Boston's other deadline pickups in Hall and Mike Reilly. In a season unlike any other, in which quarantines and safety protocols can further isolate traded players already entering uneven turf as new additions to a team — Lazar and Boston's newcomers have felt right at home.

"You're coming into a locker room as tightly knit as they are here in Boston. It's incredible," Lazar said. "And for us new guys, including Hallsy and Ryles, it can be a little nerve-wracking and you want to find your place — but the transition was so easy, so smooth. ... I'd say the overall professionalism within this organization, it's been outstanding. The leadership group with Marchy, Bergy and Krech alone — I mean, sitting down with them and talking about them and what the expectations are — it's black and white. There's no gray area. The bar is set.

"And there's a standard here. And I love that — it forces guys to be at their best each and every day. And that's how you have a winning culture like the team has here in Boston. And for a guy like myself, I know Hallsy alluded to it in the past. We're just pieces of the puzzle. And having that opportunity to come here at the deadline, it is a whirlwind,  learning the systems and whatnot. But at the end of the day, we're here for a reason. You go on the ice, and you just play to your strengths. And it's been a pretty seamless transition. And I'm looking forward to continue to make some noise with this team."