Jakub Lauko is heading home. The former Minnesota Wild forward signed with HC Dynamo Pardubice of the Czech Extraligua this week. His stay in the Twin Cities was brief as the 25-year-old played just 38 games for the Wild between trades with the Boston Bruins last season.
The Wild acquired Lauko in June of 2024 along with a fourth-round pick from Boston in exchange for Vinni Lettieri and a fourth-round pick (they drafted Aron Kiviharju) as the Bruins looked to move up in the 2024 draft.
Playing mostly a fourth-line role with the Wild, he put up three goals and three assists while battling injuries. At the trade deadline Minnesota packaged him with a sixth-round pick and Marat Khusnutdinov for Justin Brazeau. Reunited with his Bruins teammates, Lauko added another two goals and three assists over the last 18 games of the season, outperforming Brazeau who had just one goal and one assist with the Wild.
With a roster already filled with feisty, defensive-minded bottom-six forwards Boston chose not to tender him a contract and Lauko was a free agent this summer. After not finding any subtitle deals in the NHL, the 6’1” forward headed back to the league he played in before the Bruins drafted him. Always a fan-favorite wherever he played, Lauko has 21 points (10 goals, 11 assists) in 95 career games in the Czech pro leagues.
According to the team, Lauko signed a three-year deal which will carry him through his age-28 season. A strong stint in the Extraligua could lead to a NHL return, but chances are he stays in Europe. He joins a HC Dynamo Pardubice team that is sprinkled with former NHL players like John Kudvig, Libor Hajek, and Vladimir Sobotka.
Lauko’s stint in Minnesota didn’t work out quite the way that Bill Guerin had hoped it would, as it ended up costing the Wild Lettieri and Khusnutdinov in the end. Neither Lauko or Brazeau, who signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins this summer, provided the impact that Guerin was hoping for.
With just over a month to go until training camps open there is an excellent chance that more and more unsigned free agents start choosing the European option as those leagues are ramping up their seasons as well.