For the first time since his teenage years, former NHL winger Richard Pánik will play in his native Slovakia. Slovak Extraliga club HC Slovan Bratislava announced Friday that they’ve signed the 33-year-old to a contract through the league’s international break in November.
Pánik hasn’t played in the NHL since the 2021-22 campaign, when he had just one assist in four appearances for the Islanders. The four-time 10-goal scorer spent most of that season in the minors, his first AHL action in six years, before the Isles loaned him to Switzerland’s Lausanne HC for the final year of his contract in 2022-23.
A free agent last offseason, Pánik didn’t have mutual interest in an NHL return and opted to stay in Europe, signing a one-year deal with HC Oceláři Třinec in the neighboring Czech Extraliga. He seemed to rediscover his game there, posting 14 goals and 24 points in 36 games. He was traded to HC Dynamo Pardubice mid-season, finishing the campaign with six goals and 10 points in 15 games.
It took until after European regular seasons began for Pánik to find his next home, but he’ll return now to his home country’s capital. His 521 games of NHL experience will be the only ones on Bratislava’s roster this year.
Pánik was a second-round pick of the Lightning back in 2009. With an NHL return unlikely, he played in parts of 10 seasons for Tampa Bay, Chicago, Arizona, Washington, Toronto, and Detroit in addition to his short final stint with the Islanders. A strong-bodied winger, he managed 88 goals and 107 assists for 195 points with a +8 rating, often playing a top-nine role.