Jakub Voráček

Junior

Voráček was taken first overall in the 2006 Canadian Hockey League (CHL) Import Draft and played two seasons with the Halifax Mooseheads of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). He also represented the Czech Republic at the World Junior Ice Hockey Championship in 2007 and 2008. He signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Blue Jackets on 2 August 2007.

Professional

Voráček made his NHL debut on 10 October 2008, against the Dallas Stars, also scoring his first career NHL goal in the game's first period on goaltender Marty Turco. Voráček scored nine goals and 29 assists for 38 points in 80 games during his rookie season, helping the Blue Jackets make the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time in franchise history in 2009. He also had the lone assist on the first-ever playoff goal in Blue Jackets history, scored by R. J. Umberger.

On 23 June 2011, Voráček was traded, along with a 2011 first-round draft pick (Sean Couturier) and a 2011 third-round pick (Nick Cousins), to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for forward Jeff Carter. Days later, on 1 July, Voráček signed a one-year contract with the Flyers, the same day his new team signed fellow Kladno native and long-time NHL star Jaromír Jágr to a one-year contract. In his Flyers debut against the Boston Bruins, Voráček scored a goal in the game's first period against goaltender Tim Thomas. In the 2011–12 season, Voráček set a new career-high with 18 goals scored, also later scoring his first career playoff goal in Game 1 of the Flyers' opening round Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series against the Pittsburgh Penguins, beating Marc-André Fleury 2:23 into the first overtime period.

In the subsequent off-season, Voráček signed a four-year, $17 million contract extension with the Flyers on 26 July 2012, paying $4.25 million annually. Upon signing, Voráček was expected to fill the gap left by Jaromír Jágr, who had departed weeks prior via free agency to Dallas, on the Flyers' top line, alongside Claude Giroux and Scott Hartnell.

Voráček returned to the Czech Republic to play for HC Lev Praha of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) during the 2012–13 NHL lockout. On 20 February 2013, shortly after play resumed in the NHL for the 2012–13 season, he scored his first career hat-trick in a game against Pittsburgh. On 25 February, he was then named the NHL's First Star of the Week after scoring four goals and seven assists in four games played.

During the 2014–15 season, Voráček scored the second-fastest overtime goal in Flyers history on 22 December 2014, in a game against the Winnipeg Jets. The goal, unassisted, was scored just ten seconds into overtime against Jets goaltender Ondřej Pavelec at the MTS Center in Winnipeg; it was scored just three seconds slower than former Flyer Simon Gagné's overtime-winning goal seven seconds into the 5 January 2006, game against the New York Rangers. Later in the season, Voráček was named to the 2015 NHL All-Star Game in Columbus, Ohio. In the Game, he tied the single All-Star Game record for most points scored with six, tying Mario Lemieux's record previously set in the 1988 Game. Playing in all 82 regular season Philadelphia games, Voráček finished the year with 22 goals and 59 assists for a career-high 81 points, tying him for fourth in the League lead alongside Washington Capitals forward Alexander Ovechkin.

In July 2015, Voráček signed an eight-year, $66 million contract extension with the Flyers.

Records