International Hockey Roundtable
Surprise: Jakub Zbořil Signs In Czechia But Not With Kometa Brno
© Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images - Surprise: Jakub Zbořil Signs In Czechia But Not With Kometa BrnoSeveral days ago, Czech Extraliga club Kometa Brno announced that negotiations were underway with hometown player and former NHL defenseman Jakub Zbořil. On Sunday, however, rival Extraliga club Dynamo Pardubice announced that it had signed the 27-year-old to a five-year deal.
“We are significantly strengthening defense,” said Pardibice sports director Petr Sýkora. “Kuba has been on our list of potential signings for a long time. We know what he can offer and we believe he will fit perfectly with us. He is an intelligent player with good character.”
Pardubice finished first overall in the Extraliga regular season last year but lost the seventh game of the finals at home in overtime to Oceláři Třinec. The team’s roster, which already included Lukáš Sedlák, Libor Hájek, Martin Kaut and Lukáš Radil, has since been augmented with the additions of Jiří Smejkal, Roman Červenka, Andrej Šustr and now Zbořil.
Through 12 games this season, Pardubice is tied for first in the Extraliga standings with 25 points, but Sýkora – the former NHLer who is also the Pardubice club’s all-time scoring leader – obviously thinks the team can be better.
Disappointingly, Pardubice failed to reach the Champions Hockey League playoffs after falling to the Sheffield Steelers from Great Britain in the last game on Wednesday. This December, Pardubice will compete in the Spengler Cup.
Zbořil was born in Brno, Czechia 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.
Zbořil’s only career 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 had joined Kometa, he would have been united on the same team as his older brother Adam Zbořil.
As he is already in the Czech Republic and has been skating, Zbořil appears ready to go and he is expected to make his debut with Pardubice on Tuesday against BK Mladá Boleslav.
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