Lawrence Pilut

Lawrence Pilut (born 30 December 1995) is a Swedish professional ice hockey defenceman for Rapperswil-Jona Lakers of the National League (NL). An undrafted player, Pilut played in Sweden with HV71, with who he won the SHL championship in 2017. The following season Pilut won the SHL Defenseman of the year and the Swedish Defenseman of the Year (Salming Trophy), which earned a move to North America where he played briefly in the NHL with the Buffalo Sabres. He has also played with Traktor Chelyabinsk of the KHL, and Lausanne HC of the National League (NL).

Playing career Pilut began playing hockey as a youth in his hometown of Tingsryd and played at the under-18 level with Tingsryds AIF before transferring to HV71. Pilut made his Swedish Hockey League (SHL) debut playing with HV71 during the 2013–14 season.

Pilut continued in the SHL with HV71 and in the 2017–18 season, he elevated his development to have a dominant season in contributing with eight goals and 38 points in 52 games to be selected as the league's Defenceman of the Year.

In gaining NHL interest from his breakout season, Pilut left the SHL and signed as an undrafted free agent to a two-year, entry-level contract with the Buffalo Sabres on 15 May 2018. Pilut made his NHL debut on 30 November 2018, in a game against the Florida Panthers. On 8 January 2019, Pilut scored his first career NHL goal in a 5–1 win over the New Jersey Devils.

Pilut became a restricted free agent following the 2019–20 season. On 9 June 2020, he signed a two-year contract with Traktor Chelyabinsk of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).

After two successful seasons in the KHL with Chelyabinsk, Pilut returned to North America and the Sabres organization in agreeing to a one-year, two-way contract on 15 July 2022. On 6 June 2023, he signed a two-year contract with Lausanne HC of the National League (NL).

Personal life Pilut's father, Larry Pilut, is from the United States but spent most of his playing career in Sweden, including 14 seasons with Tingsryds AIF.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 2010–11 Tingsryds AIF J18 28 1 6 7 4 3 0 1 1 0 2011–12 HV71 J18 22 3 5 8 8 — — — — — 2011–12 HV71 J18 Allsv 12 3 4 7 14 3 0 1 1 0 2011–12 HV71 J20 3 0 1 1 0 — — — — — 2012–13 HV71 J18 8 1 4 5 2 — — — — — 2012–13 HV71 J18 Allsv 1 0 2 2 0 — — — — — 2012–13 HV71 J20 42 3 18 21 28 7 1 3 4 4 2013–14 HV71 J20 30 3 15 18 26 4 1 1 2 6 2013–14 HV71 SHL 22 0 4 4 18 6 0 0 0 0 2014–15 HV71 J20 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 2014–15 HV71 SHL 48 3 8 11 10 4 0 0 0 0 2014–15 Timrå IK Allsv 4 0 2 2 0 — — — — — 2015–16 HV71 SHL 21 1 5 6 4 6 1 1 2 0 2016–17 HV71 SHL 48 3 9 12 20 16 2 3 5 8 2017–18 HV71 SHL 52 8 30 38 22 2 0 0 0 0 2018–19 Rochester Americans AHL 30 4 22 26 14 3 0 0 0 0 2018–19 Buffalo Sabres NHL 33 1 5 6 20 — — — — — 2019–20 Rochester Americans AHL 37 6 17 23 20 — — — — — 2019–20 Buffalo Sabres NHL 13 0 0 0 4 — — — — — 2020–21 Traktor Chelyabinsk KHL 57 7 21 28 34 5 0 2 2 4 2021–22 Traktor Chelyabinsk KHL 40 0 11 11 28 15 1 7 8 8 2022–23 Buffalo Sabres NHL 17 1 2 3 0 — — — — — 2022–23 Rochester Americans AHL 47 3 25 28 35 14 3 8 11 14 2023–24 Lausanne HC NL 52 5 16 21 26 19 4 8 12 14 2024–25 Lausanne HC NL 0 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 2025–26 SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers NL 11 1 6 7 0 9 1 3 4 6 SHL totals 191 15 56 71 74 34 3 4 7 8 NHL totals 63 2 7 9 24 — — — — — KHL totals 97 7 32 39 62 20 1 9 10 12

International Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM 2012 Sweden U17 4th 6 0 1 1 0 2021 Sweden WC 9th 7 0 2 2 4 Junior totals 6 0 1 1 0 Senior totals 7 0 2 2 4

Awards and honors Award Year SHL Le Mat Trophy champion 2017 Salming Trophy (best Swedish defenceman) 2018