Michael Raffl signs in Switzerland

Unrestricted free agent forward Michael Raffl has signed a two-year contract with Lausanne HC of the Swiss National League, per a team release early Thursday morning.

The team’s head coach, John Fust, commented on the signing (translated from French):

Michael has proven his worth as a leader in the NHL and on the Austrian national team. He has a versatile profile, since he can play at center or on the wing. We look forward to having him in our organization for the next two seasons.

At age 33, this is almost certainly the end of Raffl’s nine-season NHL career. Signed by the Philadelphia Flyers as an undrafted free agent out of Leksands IF (then in the second-tier Swedish league, Allsvenskan) in 2013, Raffl immediately became a full-time NHL player at age 25. He would then suit up for 504 games in a Flyers uniform.

In a total of 590 NHL games spent with Philadelphia, the Washington Capitals, and the Dallas Stars, Raffl totaled 89 goals, 90 assists, 179 points, 235 penalty minutes, and a career average ice time of 13:21 per game.

2021-22, his only season spent in Dallas, left something to be desired offensively. Finishing with only seven goals and 16 points on the year in 79 games, it was disappointing production for a player who was given almost 15 minutes per game of ice time. Raffl did have one of the best defensive campaigns of his career, though, so it’s somewhat surprising an NHL team wasn’t willing to bring him on as a defensive specialist in their bottom-six.

Raffl immediately becomes one of Lausanne’s top players, joining former NHLers Miikka Salomaki, Jiri Sekac, and Cory Emmerton at forward. Washington Capitals prospect Damien Riat is also a member of the team.