Oilers forward David Tomášek appears to be heading back to Europe. After a brief NHL stint, he returns to his successful SHL club, Färjestad BK.
The Edmonton Oilers have placed forward David Tomášek on waivers for the purpose of terminating his contract, the NHL club announced via social media on Friday morning.
The 6-foot-2, 209-pound Tomášek had three goals, two assists and 10 penalty minutes in 22 NHL games.
According to Swedish and Czech media sources, the 29-year-old Czech will head back to SHL club Färjestad BK, where he played from 2023 to 2025.
“I can probably always get a job in Europe. I will always have a league to come (back) to, teams to come to,” Tomášek recently told Sportsnet. “I didn't want to regret not giving (the NHL) a try, because I know that even if somebody told me how these things are going, I would still take that over the feeling that I never tried.”
Tomášek, who was born in Prague, had never played professionally in North America before signing with the Oilers last summer, but he did play three years of youth hockey in Michigan and then two seasons for the OHL’s Belleville Bulls. He was never drafted, however, and spent the next decade in Europe – in Czechia with Dynamo Pardubice and Sparta Prague, with JYP in Finland, with Amur Khabarovsk in Russia and with Färjestad.
Oilers Signee David Tomášek Feels ‘The Best I’ve Ever Felt In My Career’
In early April, the
<a href="http://thn.com/edmonton">Edmonton Oilers</a>
signed David Tomášek, a 29-year-old Czech winger who has never
played in the NHL, to a one-year, one-way contract worth $1.2 million
US, <a href="https://puckpedia.com/player/david-tomasek">according
to PuckPedia</a>.
In his first two seasons with Färjestad, Tomášek recorded 105 points in 109 SHL regular-season and playoff games. He led the league with 25 goals in 2023-24 and then led the league with 33 assists and 57 points in 2024-25, winning the SHL’s MVP award.
As a team, Färjestad finished first and fourth in the SHL regular season but was eliminated in the quarterfinals both years. In 2024-25, Färjestad went to the Champions Hockey League final, losing to the ZSC Lions from Switzerland.
This season, Färjestad currently sits sixth in the SHL standings with 15 wins in 29 games. The team’s roster includes ex-NHLers Gabriel Carlsson, Radim Zohorna, Oskar Steen and Marián Studenič.
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