Czech defenseman Jakub Zbořil went to the New Jersey Devils’ training camp last month to try to earn a spot back in the NHL. Czech website Hokej.cz is now reporting that the 27-year-old has skated with his childhood club, Kometa Brno, which is interested in signing him.
“I spoke with ‘Kuba’ on Wednesday,” said Kometa owner Libor Zábranský. “Unfortunately, the NHL try-out didn’t go well for him – maybe good for us. In the evening we agreed that he would skate with us. Now we will do our best to come to an agreement with him.”
Zbořil was born in Brno and grew up in the ranks of the Kometa club, where he played youth and junior hockey before going overseas at age 17 to play for the QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs.
He was chosen in the first round, 13th overall, by the Boston Bruins in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. From 2017 until March of this year, he played in the Bruins organization, splitting time between Boston and the club’s AHL farm team in Providence. In 76 NHL games, Zbořil scored one goal and added 15 assists and 28 penalty minutes.
In March of this year, Zbořil was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets for fellow defenseman Andrew Peake but was assigned to the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters for the remainder of the season.
Internationally, Zbořil has represented Czechia at two U18 World Championships, two World Junior Championships and the 2023 IIHF World Championship.
Zbořil’s only Extraliga games to date occurred during the 2020-21 season, where he suited up with Kometa for 18 games before the start of the pandemic-delayed NHL training camp.
If he returns to play for Kometa, he will join his older brother, forward Adam Zbořil, who has four goals in the team’s first 10 games.
The Kometa roster also includes former NHLers Peter Mueller, Brandon Davidson and Nicolas Beaudin, Slovak national team players Kristián Pospíšil, Lukáš Cingel and Marek Ďaloga and Czech national teamers Jakub Flek and Jan Ščotka.
Kometa currently sits sixth in the 14-team Extraliga.
Related articles:
Pospíšil brothers make decision, issue statement
2029 Worlds in Budapest & Brno? “We are determined to ...
Radim Zohorna signs with Lugano