Although Ilves, the third team of the Finnish league, left goalkeeper Marek Langhamer after the season, the Czech colony in Tampere will still grow. The team already includes young striker Jakub Kos, who is currently injured, and goalkeepers Jakub Málek and Ondřej Bizoně. And now there will be three more players!
The arrival of Petr Kodytek is confirmed. So far, the 24-year-old center has only played in Pilsen, where he developed into a key forward and already has 28 starts for the national team. One year older forward Šimon Stránský, who worked for two years in Jukurit and wore the Litvínov jersey last season, is returning to Finland. And the latest Czech addition to Ilves is 19-year-old goalkeeper Patrik Hamrla, who played in the Canadian junior competition.
Pilsen also reports arrivals. In addition to young hopefuls and experienced players. In defense, they got 30-year-old Tomáš Dujsík, who wore the Olomouc jersey for the last six seasons and developed into one of the key backs. “I had several offers, but it was the negotiation with Pilsen that appealed to me. The staff is being rebuilt and I like the concept of the organization. We discussed my position in the team beforehand, so I’m very happy that we agreed on a three-year contract,” said Dujsík.
And the West Bohemians signed the Liberec icon Petr Jelínek for two years. The 38-year-old center spent the last nine seasons with the White Tigers, but the North Bohemians are rebuilding the team. However, Jelínek did not stay out of work for long and will pass on his experience to the otherwise young Pilsen team. “Pilsen was one of the first teams I negotiated with. For a long time, excellent work has been done in the organization and quality hockey has been played. It’s a new challenge for me,” Jelínek told the club’s website.
They fired the transfer bomb overseas. Ottawa scouted the Czech national team forward Jiří Smejkal! The 26-year-old forward experienced two brilliant seasons in the north, first collecting almost a point per game for Finnish Lahti, and last year for Swedish Oskarshamn. And according to him, five or six NHL teams showed interest in him. In the end, he chose the Senators organization, where he signed a one-year rookie contract.
“I took the first step towards my dream. I hope to fulfill it and play in the NHL. I will fight for it,” promised Smejkal. “More clubs contacted me and it was important for me that everything made sense to me. I had to see a chance to play upstairs. I see her here and I will do everything to start for the first team,” he told the Sport Invest agency, which represents him.
Forward Lukáš Jašek, a year younger, is following a similar path. He joined Lahti for the last two seasons and was also successful in points, and now he is heading to Smejkal’s Oskarshamn, where he signed for two years. “I know that the Swedish league is one of the best in Europe and maybe even the best. Many quality hockey players work in it. I hope to show what kind of hockey player I am and be a good team player,” said the student from Třinec.
Karlovy Vary wants to think about higher positions. After the signings of Ondřej Procházko and Jan Berkovský from the first league, the first sounding name comes. Energy looked to the north of Europe and brought in 28-year-old Finnish forward Iikka Kangasniemi. The Lahti Pelicans winger shined especially in the playoffs, where he collected 14 points in 18 duels and finished fourth in the productivity table.
And a day later, West Bohemia announced another interesting arrival. After the end of Štěpán Lukeš, they found a replacement in the goal in Pardubice, which was already speculated at the end of the season. Dominik Frodl is coming to Vary, who did not catch on much after Will in Dynamo, although he had excellent numbers. Now the 27-year-old goalkeeper can look forward to the role of clear number one. He even signed a contract for three years.
The extra-league vice-champion lured a valuable reinforcement to his squad. Hradec Králové will strengthen defender Tomáš Pavelka. The 29-year-old full-back, who also played 12 matches in the national team, is from Vítkovice, but spent most of his career in Litvínov and then in Sparta. Last season, he tried his hand at Lukko Rauma in Finland, but after a year he is returning to the Czech Republic.
Polish striker Aron Chmielewski, who has spent the last nine seasons in Třinec, is already part of the squad of the most successful team in the extra league. Now, however, the 31-year-old forward is changing his shirt, he will try a job in Olomouc.
While goalkeeper Aleš Stezka is aiming to fight for the NHL, having signed a one-year two-way contract with Seattle, Vítkovice have already found a replacement. They got an unexpected playoff hero from Hradec Králové. Matěj Machovský, who was not satisfied in the Finnish team KalPa and ended there prematurely, finally shined in Mountfield.
After the first quarter-final match, the East Bohemians surprisingly benched Henri Kiviah and gave a chance to Machovské, who caught almost the entire rest of the playoffs. The success rate of the procedures was almost 95 percent, so it is not surprising that he did not stay out of work for long. He signed a multi-year contract in Vítkovice and will form a tandem with Lukáš Klimeš.
In addition to departures, however, Hradec Králové also reports the first new face. David Šťastný joins the attack from Mladá Boleslav. The 30-year-old winger in the Skating Club took off two years ago, when he collected over a point per game, but the last two seasons he did not do so well. And now, after five years in the same team, he looked forward to a change that could start him up again.