Czech forward Jakub Lauko, 25, has signed a three-year contract with Dynamo Pardubice, the Czech Extraliga club announced on Friday.

For Lauko, it is a return to his home country after playing the last seven seasons in North America.

“One of the main reasons I decided to join Pardubice was the coaching staff – I know Filip Pešán and Karel Mlejnek quite well,” said Lauko. “I’ve already spoken with Roman Červenka, Martin Kaut and other guys I’ve played with, whether in youth hockey or the national team. It’ll be more pleasant for me to join a team where I know a lot of players.”

“We’re very happy that ‘Kuba’ has decided to join Dynamo,” said club sports manager Petr Sýkora. “We are getting a high-quality and hard-working forward who is effective at both ends of the ice. We believe he’ll continue to get better in Pardubice and that we will be successful together.”

Born in Prague, Lauko grew up in Chomutov in northern Bohemia and turned pro with local club Piráti at age 16.

Vladimír Sobotka Changes Czech Teams Veteran Czech forward Vladimír Sobotka is moving one Czech Extraliga contender to another. The 37-year-old is leaving Sparta Prague, where he played for five seasons and was captain last year, to Dynamo Pardubice, <a href="https://www.hcdynamo.cz/clanek.asp?id=Dynamo-posili-Vladimir-Sobotka-14491">the latter club announced on Wednesday</a>.

At the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, Lauko was selected in the third round, 77th overall by the Boston Bruins. The following season, he went overseas to play for the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, where he won a QMJHL title and had eight points in five games at the 2019 Memorial Cup.

The following season, he joined the AHL’s Providence Bruins and, between 2022 and 2025, he recorded 28 points and 80 penalty minutes in 139 NHL regular-season games for the Bruins and Minnesota Wild. He also played eight playoff games for the Bruins, recording two points.

Lauko was traded from Boston to Minnesota at the 2024 draft and then back to Boston at the 2025 trade deadline.

Czech captain Roman Červenka returns home It’s been rumored for a while and now it’s official – veteran Czech forward Roman Červenka is returning to his home country after signing a two-year contract to play for Dynamo Pardubice, <a href="https://www.hcdynamo.cz/clanek.asp?id=Druha-letni-posila-Dres-Dynama-oblekne-Roman-Cervenka-13771">the Extraliga club announced on Monday</a>.

Internationally, Lauko represented Czechia at one IIHF U-18 World Championship and at three World Junior Championships. He made his senior World Championship debut this past spring in Denmark and Sweden, recording two points in seven games.

Heading into this season, Lauko has 24 points in 110 career Extraliga games for Chomutov and Energie Karlovy Vary – he played for the latter in the 2020-21 season while the start of the NHL and AHL seasons were delayed by pandemic-related issues.

Lauko joins a Pardubice club that has spent the last few seasons signing elite Czech talent in pursuit of a Czech title, which has remained elusive. In each of the past two seasons, Dynamo has lost the seventh game of the finals on home ice.

Former Pens, Avs Defenseman Signs In Czechia Czech-Canadian defenseman John Ludvig, 24, has signed a one-year contract with Dynamo Pardubice, the Czech Extraliga club announced on Wednesday.

In addition to Lauko, Pardubice has under contract for 2025-26 former NHLers Vladimír Sobotka, Lukáš Sedlak, Libor Hájek, John Ludvig, Martin Kaut, Jiří Smejkal, Miloš Kelemen and Roman Červenka – the captain of the Czech national team and the IIHF Male Player of the Year in 2024-25.

“I play hard and energetic,” said Lauko. “I believe I’m good defensively, but I also want to wake up offensively and contribute to the team in that regard.”

Photo © Winslow Townson-Imagn Images.

Czechs have lots of options for 2026 Olympics It's often difficult to know what to expect from the Czechs, who can produce wildly different results depending on which players are in their lineup. They surely have some elite talent and then a lot of rather mediocre depth players on both sides of the Atlantic that almost seem interchangeable. For that reason, predicting their roster is a bit of a guessing game. If Radim Rulík remains head coach through the 2026 Winter Olympics, he might stick with the team that gelled very nicely at the 2024 IIHF World Championship and won gold on home ice, especially with the Olympics on a wider European ice surface.