Former top defenseman prospect signs in Czechia

The AHL’s Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins and defenseman Libor Hájek mutually agreed to terminate the AHL deal that was signed in October. Hájek signed a contract with HC Dynamo Pardubice that will run until 2028, according to an announcement from the Czech club.

These two moves appear to bring to an end Hájek’s time playing high-level hockey in North America. The 25-year-old moved from Czechia’s HC Kometa Brno to the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades in 2015-16, and ended up selected 37th overall by the Tampa Bay Lightning in that year’s draft.

While he was still in junior, Hájek was moved to the New York Rangers as a key part of the blockbuster Ryan McDonagh and J.T. Miller trade.

Hájek’s professional debut came in the Rangers organization with their AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack. Although some scouts were optimistic about how Hájek’s offensive game would develop, the growth he showed in his later WHL seasons never translated to the professional level.

He scored just five points in 58 AHL games as a rookie, and he never scored double-digit points in any season in his professional career. Hájek still grew in terms of role and importance in New York thanks to his size, physicality, and defensive acumen. He ultimately played in over 100 games for the Rangers, mostly occupying a sixth or seventh-defenseman role. He was non-tendered by the Rangers this past offseason, and there was some belief that he might be able to fill in a similar role with another organization to the one he filled in New York.

That never came to be, though, and Hájek settled on an AHL deal with the Penguins. Now, after 11 games in Wilkes-Barre Scranton, Hájek has elected to forgo the chance at returning to the NHL on a short-term basis (and the instability that comes with that pursuit) in favor of significantly increased stability around the familiar surroundings of his home country.

He joins one of Czechia’s top teams in Pardubice, a club that reached the Champions Hockey League quarterfinals and has reached the Czech postseason in three consecutive years. He has a real chance of earning some hardware this year, as Pardubice currently sits first in the Czech standings with a 20-3-4 record.