After dealing with significant concussion issues throughout his career and playing just one game in 2022-23, Czech winger Ondrej Kase is healthy enough to continue his pro career. It will be overseas, however, as he’s returning home to Czechia on a one-year deal with Extraliga club HC Litvinov.
Kase was expected to be a solid depth contributor for the Carolina Hurricanes last season after recording 14 goals and 27 points in 50 games with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2021-22. However, another concussion limited him to just a handful of NHL games for the second time in three seasons, leaving his playing future in significant doubt.
The 27-year-old returns to Czechia after playing 258 NHL games across seven seasons, a North American career cut much too short by those concussion issues. When healthy, especially early in his career with the Anaheim Ducks, he showed flashes of actual top-six upside. However, he was never healthy for a long enough period to round out his game and develop properly.
It makes sense that Kase would want to return home, now playing on the same team as his brother, David Kase. It’s been a trying few years for Kase since coming over to the AHL’s San Diego Gulls in 2015, and he’ll look to, first and foremost, maintain good health while assumedly playing out his pro hockey days overseas.
Kase’s last experience in the Czech pro hockey circuit came in 2014-15 when he registered 21 points in 37 games with second-tier club Pirati Chomutov. He immediately becomes the highest-profile player on Litvinov and the only one with any extended NHL experience.
This guy is one hit away from being a vegetable. No team would take the risk with him and sadly his NHL career is over.
True, and it’s a shame. Not very long ago he was a young point producer who looked like he had a long bright future ahead of him. I always rooted for the guy
Yeah like 4 yrs ago. Not that long