San Jose Sharks forward Pavol Regenda is not going to Switzerland to represent Slovakia at this year’s IIHF World Championship, according to local reports.
The 26-year-old forward struggled to find a spot in the Sharks lineup for much of the season despite scoring at a high rate and having very favorable analytics. In 24 games at the NHL level, he scored nine goals and recorded a single assist.
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Regenda’s goal-scoring likely wasn’t sustainable over the course of a full season considering, according to MoneyPuck.com, he had a higher goals per sixty minutes rate than Macklin Celebrini and his shooting percentage was 21.7%, but it was still impressive given his limited opportunities in the NHL.
Regenda has been a mainstay for the Slovak National Team over the past half-decade, but this year, it appears he’s opting to focus on his dream of remaining in the NHL.
“Pavol and I talked on the phone a few times, there were some health issues, but first and foremost he feels he has one last chance to stay in America and fight for the NHL,” Slovak head coach Vladimír Országh said to Slovakia’s SME Sportsnet.
As an unrestricted free agent, Regenda has no guarantees regarding his NHL future. Given his usage late in the season, it seems likely that his future won’t be in San Jose though.
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Regenda has previously talked about the importance of international tournaments to Slovakia and its people, meaning this probably wasn’t a decision he made lightly.
“He needs a good summer preparation [to try to stay in the NHL],” Országh added. “Since he has been regularly going to the World Championships in recent years, he feels that the time has come when he needs to rest and prepare for the next season”
While Regenda’s NHL future is up in the air, it seems he’s going to do whatever it takes to try to keep it going.
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