After deciding to play with Ilves in the 2019-2020 season instead of Kelowna, Ottawa Senators prospect Lassi Thomson had a good showing for his first time playing against men.
The Ottawa Senators 2019 first-round selection Lassi Thomson made the decision against popular belief to play in Finlands top pro league the Liiga, where he flashed potential.
Also participating in the 2020 World Juniors and being named the captain of the Finnish team, his season from the outside would seem a huge success but it didn’t contain all positives.
Lassi Thomson’s play with Ilves
The Senator’s first-rounder had a dream start to his season with Ilves, scoring two goals in his first game both on the power play in a 5-4 loss to Tappara:
The talented blueliner scored his first goal in Liiga off a cross-seam pass which he would fire with a half snapshot one-timer into the back of the net. The next goal Thomson would show his renowned blistering slap shot to overpower the goalie and score on a 5 on 3. He fired an astounding 8 shots in the game too, it was a dream start. All signs were pointing up for the Finnish defenceman with a memorable start to his professional career.
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Through Thomson’s first four games he was averaging around 19 minutes of ice time per game and looking like a mainstay in Ilves top 4. Down that stretch Thomson never surpassed 20 minutes of ice time once, despite having 2 games over 20 minutes in his first four games. The young Senators prospect would not have a multi-point game since his first game either, his production was low after his dream start.
For a 19-year-old playing in one of the best leagues in Europe production isn’t supposed to come easy, while Thomson didn’t light the league on fire he was solid in his production. Finishing the season with 7 goals, 6 assists in 39 games, and leading all Ilves defencemen in goals. The Ottawa Senators prospect averaged 15:08 of ice time per game, a solid number for a young player’s first-year professional. Thomson fired an impressive 131 shots on goal, an average of 3.4 shots per game.
The Ottawa Senators draft pick relies heavily on his hard shot from the point and scored many of his goals this season using the one-timer. Thomson scores from deep here which is rare to see on the big ice surface in Europe.
All in all, the future Senators’ rearguard needs to develop his defensive side of the game to be relied on to play more meaningful minutes. Sens Prospects on YouTube put together a highlight package showcasing all of Thomson’s seven goals in the Liiga:
World Juniors
Captaining the defending gold medalist Team Finland is a huge achievement for Thomson, not just for his on-ice play but off the ice. A team that featured fellow first-round defenceman Ville Heinola and a first-round pick of 2018 Rasmus Kupari. Finland was not short on talent, Thomson must have brought great leadership that the team thrived on.
An injury to Finlands best player Kupari would be a big blow to the defending champions in the first game.
More of an underdog due to the injury, they would end up losing in the bronze medal game to Sweden, resulting in a fourth-place finish. Thomson would fall to future teammate and Senators 2018 first-round pick Jacob-Bernard Docker in the semi-final by a score of 5-0.
Thomson would finish the tournament with 3 assists in 7 games and wasn’t a standout but was solid for Finland. The Finnish captain wasn’t named as one of the top 3 players on the Finnish team but along with Heinola were good on Finland’s defence.
What’s to Come
Pierre Dorion made a comment back in January stating that Thomson will be in North America next season, most likely starting in Belleville.
Dorion on Thomson. Will be in North America next year. “Can play in all situations “ “plays the game at a high pace. Can shoot. Will be top 4”
— TSN 1200 (@TSN1200) January 3, 2020
Dorion is confident in Thomson being a top 4 defenceman, and the soon to be 20-year old prospect will have a chance to flourish with a talented squad in Belleville.