In a CNN Prima News interview conducted in Czechia, veteran NHL winger Jakub Voráček declared his official retirement at the age of 34.
In 2022–2023 Voráček played 11 games with the Columbus Blue Jackets, scoring six points, but an injury kept him out of the rest of the season. On March 2, 2023, he was traded to the Arizona Coyotes, however he never made a game for the team.
On November 4, 2022, Colorado Avalanche forward Dryden Hunt struck Voráček in the face with a high stick, causing a concussion that would ultimately end his career. He would later be placed on long-term injured reserve by the Coyotes, who used his injury to help them meet 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.
The following season, Voráček achieved a new career high of 81 points, which he later surpassed in 2017–18 with 85 points. Voráček scored six goals and accumulated 62 points in his final NHL season (2021–22), becoming just the sixth player in his 15 seasons to do it.
Voráček's eight-year contract, which was worth $66 million total, came to an end at the conclusion of the 2023–24 regular season. In 1,058 games over two spells in Columbus and an 11-year tenure with the Flyers, he scored 223 goals and 806 points.
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.
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