Defenseman Libor Hajek has been released by the Pittsburgh Penguins organization after a few months of play in the American Hockey League.
Hajek is a 25-year-old defenseman who joined the Penguins for training camp on a professional tryout contract and was later assigned to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
With WBS to start the 2023-24 season, Hajek played in 11 games without scoring a point.
According to a tweet from the WBS Penguins, they and Hajek mutually agreed to release him from his AHL contract so he could pursue professional opportunities in his native country of Czhechia.
Before joining the Penguins organization, Hajek drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2016 but was a prospect in the New York Rangers’ system and played a fair bit at the NHL level.
As a member of the Rangers, Hajek appeared in 110 NHL games and scored four goals and eight assists for 12 total points; those 110 games came in parts of five seasons.
The move to release Hajek makes sense for both parties as the Penguins have created another defensive log jam that he was never going to be able to make it through.
Hajek entered camp with low odds to make the NHL roster and has struggled to find ground at the AHL level ever since.
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