Czech-Canadian defenseman John Ludvig, 24, has signed a one-year contract with Dynamo Pardubice, the Czech Extraliga club announced on Wednesday.

For the Czech born, Canadian-raised Ludvig, this is his first contract to play in Europe.

“I play a tough defensive game,” the 6-foot-1, 214-pound Ludvig described. “I want to be a tough opponent and I want other teams to hate playing against me.”

“Johnny is a type of player that you don’t typically see on the market,” said club sports director Petr Sýkora. “He can be extremely tough and assertive on the ice. At the same time, he is a hard-working guy with good character. We believe that he will flourish in Pardubice and we will be successful together.”

Ludvig’s father Jan defected from Communist Czechoslovakia at age 19 and played seven NHL seasons for the New Jersey Devils and Buffalo Sabres. Since retiring, the elder Ludvig has worked as a scout and a coach for the Devils and back in Czechia for Bílí Tygři Liberec and Pardubice, where he now works as a skills coach.

The younger Ludvig was given the anglicized version of his father’s name, played youth hockey in British Columbia and junior hockey for the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks, where he served as team captain his final season. He was selected in the third round, 69th overall, by the Florida Panthers in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft.

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Ludvig played 41 NHL games with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Colorado Avalanche in the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons, recording seven points, 53 penalty minutes and was a minus-16.

A dual citizen, Ludvig has never represented either Canada or Czechia internationally at any level. Playing in the country of his birth could open the door to the possibility of playing for Czechia in the future.

Ludvig joins a Pardubice club that has spent the last few seasons signing elite Czech talent in pursuit of a Czech title, which has remained elusive. In each of the past two seasons, Dynamo has lost the seventh game of the finals on home ice.

In addition to Ludvig, Pardubice has under contract for 2025-26 former NHLers Vladimír Sobotka, Lukáš Sedlak, Libor Hájek, Jakub Zbořil, Martin Kaut, Jiří Smejkal, Miloš Kelemen and Roman Červenka – the captain of the Czech national team and the IIHF Male Player of the Year in 2024-25.

Photo © Steve Roberts-Imagn Images.

Vladimír Sobotka Changes Czech Teams Veteran Czech forward Vladimír Sobotka is moving one Czech Extraliga contender to another. The 37-year-old is leaving Sparta Prague, where he played for five seasons and was captain last year, to Dynamo Pardubice,