Several members of the Czechia team that won gold in their home country in 2024 will return to defend their title in 2025. Lukáš Dostál and Radko Gudas will not be among them.

After both Anaheim players played key roles for Czechia during the 2024 Worlds, neither of them will suit up for the 2025 tournament. Dostál is currently a restricted free agent (RFA) and will likely receive a long-term after a stellar second full season as an NHLer. The 24-year-old set new career-highs across the board and proved that he is capable of being Anaheim’s future no. 1 goaltender.

While Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek has stated his preference to sign his RFAs to bridge deals, such a deal would walk Dostál straight to unrestricted free agency. Dostál experienced a similar situation in 2023, when he did not play for Czechia at Worlds because he was an RFA, despite playing for them in 2022.

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Though Dostál will not play, he recently met up with members of the 2025 squad after watching his former club HC Kometa Brno capture the Czech Extraliga championship.

“Lukáš still doesn’t have a contract, that was the main reason (he wasn’t in the squad),” Czechia goaltending coach and former NHL goalie Ondrej Pavelec said (translated from Czech). “To risk something would not be ideal, which we respect, besides he has had a difficult season.”

Gudas’ situation is a little trickier. On Apr. 4, news came from the Czech Ice Hockey Federation that Gudas would undergo surgery during the offseason and not be able to participate in Worlds. However, the Ducks have refuted this report and maintain that Gudas is healthy and will not require surgery this offseason.

In his first season as the Ducks captain in 2024-25, Gudas appeared to take a step back from his first season with the team in 2023-24, often taking himself out of position  to be physical with the opposition and taking ill-advised penalties. While surgery to alleviate whatever may have been ailing Gudas would be understandable, the situation is fluid and continues to be monitored due to these conflicting reports.

Gudas is also planning to release a book titled ‘Gudy,’ which features stories from his  13 seasons in the NHL. On Monday, he is hosting a book signing event in Prague which will be attended by his father, Leo, former Philadelphia Flyers teammates and fellows Czechs Jakub Voraček and Michal Neuvirth and co-author Pavel Bárta.

In Dostál’s absence, Czechia head coach Radom Rulík has selected the Calgary Flames’ Dan Vladař, Utah Hockey Club’s Karel Vejmelka and Josef Kořenář from Sparta Praha in the Czech Extraliga to be his goaltenders for the 2025 Worlds.

Despite not being part of this year’s Worlds squad, Dostál is still in contention to make the Czechia 2026 Winter Olympics team and will have a new contract by then as well.