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Libor Hajek

Snapshots: Eichel, Rask, Hajek

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It didn’t take long for new Golden Knight Jack Eichel to get his way in Vegas. The Associated Press reports that Eichel will undergo his preferred neck surgery, an artificial disc replacement, on Friday. Eichel’s surgical plans for his herniated disc was really the lynchpin topic of the crumbling relationship between Eichel and the Sabres that led to the Buffalo star requesting a trade after nearly a year out of action. While the disc replacement surgery has never been performed on an NHL player before, it is not an unheard of procedure and provides a number of potential benefits that the alternative fusion procedure. Eichel hopes that his saga with the Sabres will pave a path for players to have more input into their healthcare. “I think my situation shined light on maybe some things that could be changed, and I hope that they are in the future,” Eichel said. “I don’t necessarily agree with the team having the full say in what to do with medical treatment. I think it should be a collaboration.” Vegas was willing to acquire Eichel at a sizeable price and still allow him to have the surgery of his choice, an example of a team allowing a player to call the shots in his own rehabilitation.

  • Tuukka Rask was back in action on Monday, skating with – who else – the Boston Bruins. The veteran goaltender is still recovering from offseason hip surgery, but the expectation has always that he would return to his team at some point this season. That return could come sooner rather than later with Rask at Bruins practice today (though still technically a free agent). Rookie Jeremy Swayman and substantial free agent addition Linus Ullmark have played well thus far, combining for a .911 save percentage and a 2.45 GAA, but Boston has maintained that Rask will be welcomed back if he is healthy and able to return. The team clearly feels that the future Hall of Famer has enough left in the tank to improve their play in net for another year.
  • Even before the season began, there were reports that Libor Hajek had lost his starting job in New York and could be on his way out, either by trade or waivers. The first part of that assumption has proven true, as the 23-year-old has not played a game so far this season, yet Hajek is still a member of the Rangers. The team has opted not to test Hajek on waivers, protecting the once-promising blue liner from their competition, but wasting a roster spot and keeping the defenseman cold are not great strategies either. As a result, the team has announced today that Hajek will head down to the AHL’s Hartford Wolfpack on a conditioning stint. Whether this could be precursor to another move involving Hajek remains to be seen, but getting Hajek some game action certainly can’t hurt the Rangers.

Metropolitan Notes: Nyquist, Domi, Hajek, Jarvis

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While Blue Jackets winger Gustav Nyquist has yet to suit up in the exhibition season, don’t interpret that as a setback in his return from a shoulder injury.  Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch notes that the veteran is cleared for contact and is on the second line in practice but clearly, they’re being cautious after the 32-year-old missed all of last season.  Meanwhile, center Max Domi did some drills at practice on Friday as he works his way back from shoulder surgery of his own.  He’s still expected to be out until November at the earliest but his participation in practice suggests his recovery could be on the shorter end of the five-to-six-month timeline.

More from the Metropolitan:

  • Once viewed as one of the centerpieces of the trade return for Ryan McDonagh and J.T. Miller, Rangers defenseman Libor Hajek’s time with New York could be in jeopardy, suggests Larry Brooks of the New York Post. The 23-year-old has yet to lock down a full-time role and eventually settled for accepting his qualifying offer earlier this offseason.  Hajek has to go through waivers if the Rangers try to send him down and with the potential he was viewed to have just a few years ago, it wouldn’t be surprising if another team put in a claim.  That has him as a bubble player with a lot on the line the next week and a half as a result.
  • With the Hurricanes not being able to send top prospect Seth Jarvis to the AHL due to his age, Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News & Observer suggests that Carolina may opt to keep him with the big club to start the season. The 19-year-old could play up to nine NHL games before the first year of his entry-level deal would kick in while he wouldn’t accrue a season towards UFA eligibility until he was on the roster for 40 games.  Going that route would allow them a bit more time to evaluate Jarvis’ readiness although the likeliest outcome at this time is an eventual return to Portland in the WHL which isn’t great from a development perspective considering how productive he has been there the last two years.

Defense Notes: Hamonic, Hajek, Capobianco

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Training camp is well underway but the Vancouver Canucks are still awaiting the arrival of veteran defenseman Travis Hamonic. Now, with the deadline to opt out of the coming season arriving on Friday, the team is left to wait to see if they will have the reliable blue liner back after extending him this off-season. Yet, it appears that they will remain patient and calm with Hamonic, who has family concerns to take into account with his decision. Hamonic previously opted out of the 2020 playoff bubble due to his daughter’s respiratory infection and with the NHL returning to a full slate of travel this season, he may be concerned about potential exposure to the Coronavirus and bringing that home. GM Jim Benning tells Postmedia’s Ben Kuzma that he is “confident” that Hamonic will arrive to camp and play this season, but also notes that “he’s dealing with a personal issue and I think everybody should just leave it alone.” Benning did however speak to the team’s COVID vaccination status when discussing Hamonic, which may also imply that he is unvaccinated, adding another layer to his decision. Whatever the cause, time is running out for Hamonic to make his decision, but the Canucks hope the veteran defenseman will be back in the fold as soon as possible.

    • Just a few years after being one of the cornerstone prospects in the Ryan McDonagh trade return, Libor Hajek’s job with the New York Rangers could be in jeopardy. The New York Post’s Larry Brooks writes that sources believe Hajek has slid outside a starting job on the Rangers’ depth chart and possibly even outside of a roster spot. Behind established 23-year-old Ryan Lindgren, 21-year-old rising sophomore K’Andre Miller, and 20-year-old rookie Zac Jones, the 23-year-old Hajek has not done enough to assert himself as a roster lock and can no longer depend on his upside with so much talented youth around him. Lindgren and Miller both greatly outplayed Hajek last year and Jones came in late in the season, after a long college season that ended in a National Championship with UMass, and proceeded to match Hajek’s season point total in just ten games.  Beyond just the youngsters, Brooks reports that veteran free agent addition Patrik Nemeth is also above Hajek on the depth chart. With four lefties seemingly locked into roster spots, Hajek would have to unseat a righty to make the team – and that certainly won’t be Adam Fox or Jacob Trouba – or hope that New York opts to carry eight defenseman, five of which are lefties. Another promising rookie, Nils Lundkvist, is currently penciled in for the final spot on the right side, while a potential fifth lefty spot would also be open to competition from veterans Jarred Tinordi and Anthony Bitetto and promising prospect Matthew Robertson. This all goes to show that there are a lot of defensemen in the mix for the Rangers and Hajek no longer has the shine of a budding star. Even though the likes of Miller, Jones, Lundkvist, and Robertson are all waiver-exempt, don’t be surprised to see New York subject to Hajek to waivers anyhow in order to ensure the best players are on the NHL roster. Whether that decision ultimately means Hajek’s days in the Big Apple are numbered remains to be seen.
    • The Arizona Coyotes have announced that Kyle Capobianco is currently sidelined with a knee injury, which is exactly what the young defenseman did not want in training camp this year. Though PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan writes that he is only considered day-to-day, this is a critical preseason for Capobianco. The left side of the Coyotes blue line was obliterated this off-season with the trade of Oliver Ekman-Larsson, free agent departures of Alex Goligoski and Jordan Oesterle, and retirement of Niklas Hjalmarsson. Even with the addition of Shayne Gostisbehere to a left side now led by Jakob Chychrun, Capobianco flew up the depth chart into a top-three slot. This was his chance to finally secure an NHL starting job, but he risks missing out with a surplus of right-handed defensemen also jockeying for position. If youngsters like Victor Soderstrom, Conor Timmins, and Ty Emberson all prove they should be on the NHL roster while Capobianco sits out, he could lose his starting job, especially with veterans Ilya Lyubushkin and Anton Stralman able to play their off-side.

New York Rangers Sign Libor Hajek To Two-Way Contract

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Sep 7: The Rangers have officially announced the one-year deal.

Sep 4: The New York Rangers have inked young defenseman Libor Hajek to a new deal, per CapFriendly. The one-year contract carries an $874,125 cap hit and salary while paying him $70,000 at the minor-league level.

Originally a second-round draft choice of the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2016, Hajek entered the Rangers organization as part of the return for former captain Ryan McDonagh in 2018. Hajek’s played all of his NHL games with the Rangers, scoring three goals and 10 points in 77 games over the past three seasons. Hajek made the jump to being a full-time NHLer this season, playing in 44 out of the Rangers’ 56 games and spent no time in the minor leagues. However, the two-way nature of the contract would lead some to believe that the Rangers weren’t particularly impressed with his performance.

There’s obviously still room to grow for the young Czech, but the Rangers may have been right in their assessment. Hajek’s posted poor chance generation and suppression numbers in the league for the past two seasons. Now with a bolstered depth chart on the left side of defense that includes the emerging K’Andre Miller, Ryan Lindgren, and free-agent acquisitions Patrik Nemeth and Jarred Tinordi, it’s possible that Hajek sees a return to the minors this season and is placed on waivers.

Rangers Making Progress On Libor Hajek’s Contract

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The bulk of the heavy lifting has been done for the Rangers and new GM Chris Drury as they have made several changes to their roster, adding plenty of grit along the way.  They still have one RFA left to re-sign, however, in Libor Hajek but Mollie Walker of the New York Post reports that New York is closing in on a deal with the defenseman.

The 23-year-old was one of the pieces that went to the Rangers as part of the deal that saw Ryan McDonagh and J.T. Miller go to Tampa Bay back at the 2018 trade deadline.  At the time, Hajek was in the middle of wrapping up a strong junior career and it looked like he might be a prospect that could be a long-term piece for New York.

While he’s still young enough to change his fortunes, that hasn’t quite happened yet.  Hajek played in 44 games with the Rangers last season but in a limited role, averaging just over 15 minutes per game while predominantly being on their third pairing.  His waiver exemption allowed him to be shuffled to the taxi squad and after working his way back up to the big club in February, he was sent down another 13 times through the season for cap purposes.

With his limited role, it’s hard to see Hajek landing much more than the value of his qualifying offer last month, one that was worth just over $874K.  He isn’t waiver-exempt anymore which makes a proposal of a lower NHL salary than the qualifier in exchange for a higher AHL salary – a common contract we’ve seen with some restricted free agents this summer – less palatable but it’s a deal that should be fairly simple to hammer out.  With the bigger moves now complete, Drury can focus on getting Hajek re-signed, a move that appears to be coming sooner than later.

Free Agent Focus: New York Rangers

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Free agency is now just under a month away and many teams are already looking ahead to when it opens up.  There will be several prominent players set to hit the open market in late July while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign as well. The Rangers are more concerned with the latter than the former, with few impending UFAs of note but quite a few impact RFAs.

Key Restricted Free Agents

F Pavel Buchnevich – Buchnevich is one of four of the Rangers’ top-twelve scoring forwards without a contract for next season, alongside Chytil, Gauthier, and Di Giuseppe, but is by far the most important. Buchnevich finished third in per-game scoring for New York this year, behind only stars Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad. His 48 points were two more than his 2019-20 total, but in 14 fewer games. Buchnevich’s consistent scoring paired with his defensive improvements and success on both special teams units led to an increase in ice time to 18:44 per game, top line minutes again behind only Zibanejad and Panarin. Buchnevich timed this breakout year well; the 26-year-old forward is now a restricted free agent with arbitration rights. This is not an aberration either, as Buchnevich has shown steady improvement throughout his career and is firmly established as a top-six forward with 20-goal and 50-point regularity. The Rangers will have no choice but to pay up, short-term or long-term, with an unfavorable arbitration decision, not to mention the animosity created by the process, as a looming threat.

G Igor Shesterkin – The Rangers may have two young goaltenders in the pros and a multitude of talented prospects in the pipeline, but make no mistake: Shesterkin is invaluable. The 25-year-old netminder has only played in 47 games across two seasons since coming over from the KHL, but has been superb with a .921 save percentage, 2.59 GAA, and a .611 points percentage in his decisions for a team that has played at a .552 clip over the past two years. Shesterkin is the best of the bunch in net in New York and the Rangers need to lock him up on a multi-year deal, regardless of his lack of NHL experience. Shesterkin’s arbitration eligibility ensures that they will have to pay him fairly as well. Shesterkin is close to unrestricted free agency and the worst thing the team could do is sign what looks to be a solid NHL starter to a short-term deal (or settle for an arbitration decision) only to see him continue to perform or even improve and then price himself out of town.

Other RFAs: F Filip Chytil, D Brandon Crawley, F Gabriel Fontaine, F Julien Gauthier, F Tim Gettinger, D Libor Hajek, G Adam Huska, F Patrick Newell, F Ty Ronning, D Yegor Rykov

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

D Brendan Smith – It wasn’t long ago that Smith’s contract was one of the most criticized in the NHL as he was buried in the minors in the first season of a four-year, $17.4MM deal with the Rangers. In the years since, he has somewhat recovered to become a good albeit still overpaid depth defenseman for New York. Smith has played in over 80% of the Rangers’ games over the past three seasons since his abysmal debut season, providing physicality and defensive stability and, for the first time in 2020-21, more secure puck-handling and a hint more offense. With a deep stable of talented young defensemen, the Rangers don’t need Smith. However, they could do far worse than someone with versatility, checking ability, and veteran experience as a depth option. He would come much cheaper this time around as well, as Smith is unlikely to have a competitive market as a free agent.

F Phil Di Giuseppe – At 27 years old with only 201 career games and 53 career points, Di Giuseppe has not much more than a depth option during his time in the NHL and likely won’t be. However, he proved to be valuable in that role in two seasons with New York, playing a gritty checking game and contributing some modest offense. Di Giuseppe’s success as a plug-and-play bottom-six forward is not limited to his time with the Rangers either, as some of his best seasons were playing the same role with the Carolina Hurricanes. As an affordable extra man, Di Giuseppe has value to the Rangers as an extension candidate, but he may be on the lookout for more opportunity rather than staying on a New York roster that is deep in young players in need of ice time and hoping to add more veterans this off-season.

Other UFAs: D Jack Johnson, D Darren Raddysh

Projected Cap Space

While Buchnevich and Shesterkin will earn considerable deals this summer and Chytil is deserving of a sizeable raise as well, the Rangers remain in good shape with the salary cap. They currently project to have $22.89MM in cap space with 18 players on the NHL roster, but that includes third-string goaltender Keith Kinkaid and cap charge for defenseman Anthony DeAngelo, who will be traded or at worst bought out in the off-season. A more accurate projection is closer to $25.5MM with 17 players on the roster. New deals for Gauthier, Hajek, and possibly Smith or Di Giuseppe (or replacements) should come cheap, leaving plenty of room to re-sign the key trio of RFA’s with room to spare to add another impact forward or two.

Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.

Snapshots: Next Season, Overseas Prospects, Hajek

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Yesterday’s call with the NHL board of governors didn’t result in any sweeping announcements about next season, but insiders around the game have gleaned a bit of information about what was discussed and what is still on the table. Frank Seravalli puts many of those information nuggets into his latest piece for TSN, including the fact that preference now seems to be moving away from hybrid bubbles or “hubs” as commissioner Gary Bettman recently called them, and towards teams playing in their home arenas. Seravalli suggests that regional realignment would be required, but that teams would play a baseball-like series of two or three games to reduce travel.

He also reports that there is “no concept on the table that includes a full-length regular season.” That seemed clear when Bettman publicly spoke about a reduced schedule, something the league was obviously hoping to avoid but is now inevitable. There are no formal proposals on the table yet, but with the January 1 target date getting closer every day, there will need to be a decision at some point in the near future—even if it is just another delay.

  • With the hockey offseason moving at a snail’s pace in November, fans have started to scour overseas boxscores to see how their favorite prospects are doing. Mike Shulman of Sportsnet published a piece today going over many of the most interesting names, including several 2021 draft prospects that are still trying to raise their stock. Among the group of already drafted players is Yaroslav Askarov once again, who continues to turn heads every time he hits the ice. Even Shulman sold him a bit short, without updated statistics from the KHL. Askarov returned to the SKA St. Petersburg crease yesterday after dominating at the Kajala Cup and put on another show, stopping 24 of 25 shots in a huge victory over HC Vityaz. Askarov is now toting a .960 save percentage in five KHL games, allowing only five goals on 125 shots.
  • Speaking of overseas prospects, the New York Rangers will have another one to keep an eye on as Libor Hajek joins HC Kometa Brno on loan for the time being. Hajek was loaned to Brno originally, then switched to Olomouc, but is now apparently heading back to where he started. The 22-year-old has struggled during his time in the NHL over the last two seasons and will need to take another step in his development before the Rangers can really rely on him as a full-time option.

Overseas Loans: Hajek, Tarasov, Almari

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Prospect loans continue all around the league as NHL teams try to find playing time for their young talent. A flurry of moves were announced today, including:

  • While Libor Hajek of the New York Rangers was supposed to be heading to HC Kometa Brno, he’ll now join HC Olomouc of the Czech professional league instead. In an interview with iSport, Hajek confirmed the change and explained that it’s closer to where he is currently living and training. Now 22, Hajek played in 28 games for the Rangers this season, recording five points. The 37th overall pick from 2016, he was part of the Ryan McDonagh trade in 2018 with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
  • Daniil Tarasov, another member of the Columbus Blue Jackets goaltending pipeline, will take his talents to the KHL for this season, joining HC Salavat Yulaev for 2020-21. Tarasov, 21, played in Finland last season on loan from the Blue Jackets and put up an .899 save percentage in 41 matches. The 6’5″ Russian goaltender was a third-round pick in 2017 and is in the second year of his three-year entry-level contract with Columbus.
  • Along with Jesse Ylonen, whose name was brought up yesterday, Niclas Almari will also be loaned to the Lahti Pelicans in Finland. The 22-year-old defenseman was signed by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2019 and played 51 games with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins this season. While Ylonen is only overseas until an NHL season begins, Almari will be staying with the Pelicans for the entire 2020-21 season according to the team.

Overseas Notes: Hajek, Zboril, Plekanec, Sulzer

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Add a pair of young defensemen to the ever-growing list of players heading to Europe to begin their 2020-21 seasons. Michael Kosturik of Czech source iSport reports that the New York Rangers’ Libor Hajek and the Boston Bruins’ Jakub Zboril with join HC Kometa Brno of the Czech Extraliga ahead of the start of the NHL season. Hajek, 22, is under contract with the Rangers for the coming season and the two teams are currently hammering out the details on a short-term loan. Zboril has joined the squad on his own accord as an impending restricted free agent. However, Kosturik does add that the Bruins are interested in an extension with the first-round prospect. Zboril has played in just two games for Boston, but has been a steady, consistent defender for the AHL’s Providence Bruins over three pro seasons. Hajek on the other hand played the majority of his games with New York this season and has 33 NHL games total on his resume. While offense has been hard to come by at any level, Hajek is growing into a reliable stay-at-home defenseman. The pair will provide a major boost to Brno to begin the season, who at this point have not been able to recruit any other NHLers on short-term loans or contracts.

  • Long-time NHLer Tomas Plekanec played last season in Brno, but will now return to Rytiri Kladno of the Czech 2nd League, with whom he spent part of the 2018-19 season. Due to family reasons, Plekanec announced last month that he would be leaving Brno to return to his hometown of Kladno. However, it was unclear whether he would continue playing or not. Plekanec was very successful last season with 33 points in 50 games, but at age 37 no one would have been surprised to see him opt to retire. Yet, it seems his friend and legendary player-owner of Kladno Jaromir Jagr, 48, has convinced him to give it one last try – or more accurately two – as the club has announced a two-year deal with Plekanec. Plekanec and Jagr worked hard to get Kladno elevated from Czech2 to the Extraliga in 2018-19 only for the team to be relegated this past season in Plekanec’s absence. The duo will undoubtedly have their sights set on getting the club back to the top level again this year.
  • One former NHLer who is calling it a career is defenseman Alexander Sulzer. Sulzer, 36, played in 131 NHL games with four teams over seven seasons in North America. One of the best defensemen to ever come out of Germany, representing the country twice at the Olympic Games, Sulzer returned home to play in the DEL in 2014-15. He spent five seasons with Kolner Haie before moving to Dusseldorfer EG last season. However, he never played for the team as he required surgery to remove a tumor on his spine last summer which caused him to miss the entirety of the season. In the year since his operation, Sulzer has come to the decision not to try to return to play and the DEL announced that he has officially retired. A big, balanced defenseman, Sulzer made an impact in the NHL and an even greater impact in his native Germany over a long career.

Snapshots: Amnesty, Lucic, Game Audio, Hajek

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Despite the hopes and dreams of fans around the NHL, the agreed-upon return-to-play conditions and extended CBA is not likely to include any kind of amnesty clause, per TSN’s Bob McKenzie. The assumption that the salary cap will hold at $81.5MM for the next two seasons gave rise to some speculation that the stagnant cap would be augmented by an amnesty provision, but it appears teams will be stuck with the contracts they’ve got on the books. For the Calgary Flames, that means Milan Lucic, writes Todd Cordell of Hockey Buzz. Lucic has three more years on his deal worth $5.25MM per season. The 32-year-old Lucic hardly set the world on fire in his first season in Calgary, notching just 20 points (8 goals, 12 assists) across 68 games. The Flames acquired Lucic and a conditional 3rd round pick for winger James Neal after one disappointing season in Calgary produced just seven goals. The money owed Lucic isn’t exorbitant, but it’s not an ideal price tag for an aging winger entering his mid-thirties. Lucic still played a role on the Flames’ third line, but his days as a 40-60 point scorer appear behind him. Additionally, it’s unclear right now if the Flames will actually receive the third-round pick. To get the pick in this year’s draft, Neal had to score at least 21 goals and record 10 more goals than Lucic. The second condition was qualified, but Neal scored just 19 goals – in a shortened season. Common sense would look at those numbers and say Neal was going to qualify both conditions, but it’s not entirely clear.

  • When the NHL returns to television, the game may look the same – except for the leagues of empty seats in the background – but the audio experience may provide an even more jarring change, per Kevin McGran of The Star. Without access to players, the play-by-play commentators are likely to call games from a studio instead of the arena, and in terms of sideline reporting, well, there won’t be any. Studios are still working on the best way to pump in ambient sound, whether that’s highlighting sounds from the ice or using some kind of fan track. The most entertaining option would almost certainly be to mic the players, but that would require players to curb their vulgarity, which, in the heat of the moment, might be too great an ask.
  • Libor Hajek of the New York Rangers has hired Octagon as his representation, tweets agent Allan Walsh. The young blueliner appeared in 28 games for the Rangers this season, recording five assists but no goals. Walsh also represents NHL players like Marc-Andre Fleury and Brock Boeser.

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