The San Jose Sharks are adding another defenseman to the organizational mix, and this one comes with a familiar profile: a veteran blue-liner who can help stabilize the depth chart.
According to a team announcement, San Jose has signed Libor Hajek to a one-year, two-way contract for the 2026-27 season.
Hajek, 28, has spent the past three years with HC Dynamo Pardubice in the Czech Extraliga. Over that stretch, he put up 13 goals and 32 points in 111 games while posting a +26 rating. His most recent action in North America came in the 2023-24 season, when he appeared in 11 games for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the AHL before heading back to Czechia.
Long before that, Hajek was viewed as a solid prospect in the New York Rangers system. The Tampa Bay Lightning selected him 37th overall in the 2016 NHL Draft, and he later landed with the Rangers in the Ryan McDonagh and J.T. Miller trade.
His NHL stint in New York never quite took off the way the Rangers had hoped. Hajek played five seasons with the club, recording four goals and 12 points in 110 games with a -9 rating. He averaged 14:53 of ice time per game, and his 39.4% CorsiFor at even strength was a rough mark.
Now, in what the article describes as the “prime” years of his career, Hajek should face less pressure with the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda. The Sharks see him as a steady defensive presence who can also help guide the organization’s younger defensemen as they move into pro hockey.