Longtime NHLer Jakub Voracek officially retires at 34

In an interview with CNN Prima News in Czechia, longtime NHL winger Jakub Voráček officially retired at the age of 34.

Voráček played 11 games with the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2022-23, registering six points before missing the rest of the season due to injury. He was traded to the Arizona Coyotes on March 2, 2023, but never played for the franchise.

Voráček was hit in the face by a high stick from Colorado Avalanche forward Dryden Hunt on Nov. 4, 2022, giving him a concussion that ultimately ended his career. The Coyotes would go on to put him on long-term injured reserve, helping them reach the salary floor.

In his prime, the 6-foot-2 forward built a reputation of being a consistent scoring winger. Drafted seventh overall by the Blue Jackets in 2007, Voráček reached the 50-point mark in just his second NHL season in 2009-10. He would near that output in each of his next three seasons before breaking out with a 62-point effort in his third year with Philadelphia in 2013-14.

Voráček set a new career-best mark of 81 points the following season before besting it at 85 points in 2017-18. In his last full NHL campaign in 2021-22, Voráček had six goals and 62 points, marking the sixth time in his 15 seasons that he surpassed the 60-point threshold.

Voráček’s contract ended at the end of the 2023-24 regular season, finishing an eight-year deal worth $66 million over the duration of the contract. He had 223 goals and 806 points in 1,058 career games between two stints in Columbus and an 11-year run with the Flyers.

Outside of the NHL, Voráček won gold at the 2010 World Championship and bronze the following year with Czechia. Prior to making his NHL debut, Voráček played through Kladno’s minor system before spending two years with the QMJHL’s Halifax Mooseheads, highlighted by a 101-point affair in 2007-08.

With Voráček unable to play, he joined Jaromir Jagr’s Rytíři Kladno franchise as an assistant coach for the 2023-24 season.