| Libor Hájek | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 4, 1998, Smrček |
| Height Weight |
6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 205 lb (93 kg; 14 st 9 lb) |
| Position | Defenceman |
| Shoots | Left |
| NHL team F. teams |
New York Rangers Tipsport Extraliga HC Kometa Brno WHL Saskatoon Blades Regina Pats AHL Syracuse Crunch Hartford Wolf Pack |
| Ntl. team |  Czech Republic
|
| NHL Draft | 37th overall, 2016 Tampa Bay Lightning |
| Playing career | 2010–present |
Libor Hájek (born on February 4, 1998 in Smrček) is a Czech professional ice hockey defenceman currently playing with the New York Rangers of the NHL. He was selected by the Tampa Bay Lightning, in the second-round, 37th overall, in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft.
Club career[]
Hájek began his junior career with the HCM Warrior Brno organisation. Before the end of the 2010-11 season moved Hájek to the HC Kometa Brno organisation where he finished the season with 3 games played with its under-16 team. Hájek continued with the HC Kometa Brno organisation until the end of the 2014-15 season.
Hájek made his senior debut playing 17 regular season games and 7 play-off games with HC Kometa Brno of the Tipsport Extraliga during the 2014-15 season.[1] In this season, he also played 44 regular season games and 1 play-off game with the HC Kometa Brno under-20 team and 2 games with the HC Kometa Brno under-18 team.
In opting to continue his development in North America, Hájek was selected 2nd overall in the 2015 CHL Import Draft by the Saskatoon Blades of the WHL.[2]
In the 2015-16 season spent with the Saskatoon Blades of the WHL played Hájek also at the CHL Top Prospects Game.
At the completion of his second season with the Blades, after 65 games played, Hájek was signed to a three-year, entry-level contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning organisation on March 21, 2017.[3] He immediately joined primary affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL on a try-out to play out the remainder of the 2016-17 season. He played there 8 games.
In the 2017-18 season, Hájek played 33 games with the Saskatoon Blades of the WHL and 25 regular season games plus 4 play-off games with the Regina Pats of the WHL. On February 26, 2018, Hájek was traded to the New York Rangers organisation, along with Vladislav Namestnikov, Brett Howden, and two draft picks, for Ryan McDonagh and J. T. Miller.[4]
In the 2018-19 season, Hájek played 5 games with the New York Rangers of the NHL and 58 games with the Hartford Wolf Pack of the AHL
In the next season played Hájek 28 games with the New York Rangers of the NHL and 23 games with the Hartford Wolf Pack of the AHL. Hájek recorded his first career NHL assist off a goal by Mika Zibanejad during the this season opener against the Winnipeg Jets on October 3, 2019.[5]
Due to the delayed start of the 2020-21 North American season, Hájek began the 2020-21 season on loan with the HC Kometa Brno of the Tipsport Extraliga. He played there 10 games before he moved back to the New York Rangers of the NHL. He finished there the season with 44 games played.
International career[]
Hájek played with the Czech National Team at the 2014 World U17 Hockey Challenge, 2014 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament (winning there silver), 2015 and 2016 World U18 Championships and at the 2018 World Junior Championship (being there selected one of the top 3 players on the Czech team as he was the tournament's leading defenceman with most assists (7) and most points (8) recorded).
Career statistics[]
Regular season and playoffs[]
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2013–14 | HC Kometa Brno | U20 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2014–15 | HC Kometa Brno | U20 | 44 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 62 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2014–15 | HC Kometa Brno | ELH | 17 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2015–16 | Saskatoon Blades | WHL | 69 | 3 | 23 | 26 | 76 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2016–17 | Saskatoon Blades | WHL | 65 | 4 | 22 | 26 | 81 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2016–17 | Syracuse Crunch | AHL | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2017–18 | Saskatoon Blades | WHL | 33 | 8 | 17 | 25 | 26 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2017–18 | Regina Pats | WHL | 25 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 12 | ||
| 2018–19 | Hartford Wolf Pack | AHL | 58 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 36 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2018–19 | New York Rangers | NHL | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2019–20 | New York Rangers | NHL | 28 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2019–20 | Hartford Wolf Pack | AHL | 23 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NHL totals | 33 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 18 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
International[]
| Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Czech Republic | U17 | 7th | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | |
| 2014 | Czech Republic | IH18 | 
|
5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | |
| 2015 | Czech Republic | WJC18 | 6th | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | |
| 2015 | Czech Republic | IH18 | 6th | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | |
| 2016 | Czech Republic | WJC18 | 7th | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | |
| 2018 | Czech Republic | WJC | 4th | 7 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 6 | |
| Junior totals | 31 | 2 | 12 | 14 | 28 | ||||
References[]
- ↑ HC Kometa Brno 2014–15 statistics. eliteprospects.com (2015-04-01). Retrieved on 2015-04-01.
- ↑ 2015 CHL import draft. Canadian Hockey League (2015-07-05). Archived from the original on 5 July 2015. Retrieved on 2015-07-05.
- ↑ Lightning sign Libor Hajek to entry-level contract. Tampa Bay Lightning (2017-03-21). Retrieved on 2017-03-21.
- ↑ Rangers Acquire Namestnikov, Hajek, Howden, 2018 1st Rd. Pick & 2019 Pick (26 February 2018). Retrieved on 27 February 2018.
- ↑ https://twitter.com/NYRStatsInfo/status/1179928391715348481?s=20