Lawson played a single game with the Detroit Red Wings in the 1968 season, before becoming a full-time professional the next year, shuttling between the Wings and the minor-league Fort Worth Wings of the Central Hockey League. Before season's end he was traded to the Minnesota North Stars, serving the role of a defensive forward on the third and fourth lines. He spent the next two years with the North Stars, further splitting his time between the parent club and the minor leagues, before a trade in the 1971 offseason to the Buffalo Sabres. It was with Buffalo that Lawson finally received substantial ice time, albeit in a checking role shadowing other teams' offensive stars. It was to be his first complete season in the NHL without any time spent in the minors. He would finish the 76 games scoring 10 goals.