The Montreal Canadiens made a minor move Tuesday night, acquiring forward Lucas Lessio from the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for forward Christian Thomas.
Lessio has spent the entire 2015-16 season with the Coyotes’ AHL affiliate, the Springfield Falcons and he will stay at the AHL level in the Canadiens’ organization, according to Sportsnet’s Eric Engels.
Here’s a quick 411 on what you need to know about the Canadiens’ new forward.
Name: Lucas Lessio
Age: 22
From: Maple, Ontario
Height: 6-foot-1 | Weight: 212 pounds
Position: Left wing
Shoots: Left
What’s his deal?
Lessio is considered to be a gifted offensive player with size, speed and good ability with the puck. Arizona drafted him with the 56th overall pick in the 2011 NHL Draft, two picks before the Tampa Bay Lightning selected forward Nikita Kucherov.
The Hockey News’ website referred to him a: “solid, non-flashy winger with upside that needs to work on his two-way play and passing skills in order to maximize his NHL potential.”
The 22-year-old made his NHL debut during a brief three-game stint with the Coyotes in 2013-14. He did not score a point but racked up two penalty minutes with a minus-2 rating before he was assigned to the AHL’s Portland Pirates. He led the Pirates in goals (29) with in 69 games.
Lessio again got some time with the big club again last season, scoring two goals and three assists with eight penalty minutes and a minus-10 rating while averaging over 12 minutes per game in 26 games last season.
He scored 15 goals with 16 assists in 49 regular season games for the Pirates in 2014-15 and added three assists in five playoff games.
It’s unclear how the Canadiens view him going forward, but he is schedule to become a restricted free agent after the 2015-16 season.
Lessio traded for a former teammate: Oddly enough, Lessio and Christian Thomas played together with the Oshawa Generals of the Ontario Hockey League from 2010-12.
The two tied for the team lead in goal scoring during the 2011-12 season, accumulating 33 goals apiece while Thomas had eight more assists and Lessio racked up 42 more penalty minutes.
A Blue Jays, Raptors fan Lessio doesn’t tweet often (the @LucasLessio38 account is verified) but when he does, he seems to be a fan of Toronto sports teams, which might not go over so well in Montreal. The newest Canadien has tweeted just three times since the middle of May but all three of those included him showing support for his hometown baseball team.
https://twitter.com/LucasLessio38/status/652174962791477248
https://twitter.com/LucasLessio38/status/656975562699841536
Prior to that, Lessio’s Twitter account seemed to indicate that he was not a fan of the refereeing during the Toronto Raptors’ first-round playoff series with the Brooklyn Nets in April and May of 2014.
https://twitter.com/LucasLessio38/status/463037646747361280
