- Sharks sign defenseman Libor Hajek to a one-year, two-way contract for 2026-27
- The 28-year-old returns to North America after three years in the Czech Extraliga
- Read below for what the former Rangers prospect brings to San Jose’s blue line
The Sharks added another arm to their blue-line depth on Wednesday.
San Jose signed defenseman Libor Hajek to a one-year, two-way contract for the 2026-27 season, per the team. It’s a cheap look at a player who dropped off the NHL radar a few years back.
Hajek, 28, spent the last three seasons with HC Dynamo Pardubice in the Czech Extraliga. He racked up 13 goals and 32 points in 111 games there and finished a plus-26 over that run.
His last work in North America came in 2023-24, when he played 11 games for the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins before heading back home to Czechia.
Rangers fans will know the name. Tampa Bay drafted Hajek 37th overall in 2016, then shipped him to New York in the package for Ryan McDonagh and J.T. Miller.
New York wanted a shutdown presence out of him. That never quite clicked. Hajek suited up in 110 games across five seasons with the Rangers and managed four goals and 12 points, averaging just under 15 minutes a night.
This deal points him toward the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda, where he adds veteran depth and some competition for a bottom-pair job. A room full of young Sharks blueliners can lean on a guy with 110 NHL games behind him.
Wednesday capped a two-way week for San Jose, which lost forward Daniil Gushchin to the KHL and now brings Hajek in as insurance on the back end.
