Latvian Ex-Canuck Released By Lausanne

Latvian winger Ronalds Ķēniņš, 33, has been released from his contract with Lausanne HC, the Swiss National League club announced on Wednesday. According to the club, it was by mutual agreement.

Ķēniņš has not played any games for Lausanne this season, but has a goal and an assist for HC Sierre of the second tier Swiss League, where he has played on loan. His last game was on Oct. 12.

Except for a two-year stint in North America, Ķēniņš has played his career in Switzerland since 2007, when he was 16 years old. He played several years in Zurich for the Lions club, for GCK youth clubs and for ZSC in the National League. He has played for Lausanne since 2017.

He has 241 points in 595 career National League regular-season and playoff games for both clubs. He also won three national titles with Zurich in 2012, 2014 and 2018. Last season, he was on the Lausanne team that lost to Zurich in the finals. 

Ķēniņš was never drafted by an NHL team but in 2014, at age 23, he signed as a free agent with the Vancouver Canucks and split two seasons between the Canucks and Utica Comets of the AHL. He had four goals and eight assists in 38 NHL regular-season games, and also had a goal and an assist playing five of six games of a first-round playoff series against the Calgary Flames in 2015.

Internationally, Ķēniņš was a regular member of the Latvian national team from 2010 to 2023, playing in 11 IIHF World Championships and two Winter Olympics. In his last international tournament to date, he was a member of Latvia’s surprising bronze-medal team in 2023 in Riga and Tampere.