Former Leafs and Bruins forward Ondrej Kase signs a new deal

This just in, former Anaheim Ducks, Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs and Carolina Hurricanes forward Ondrej Kase has signed a one year contract with HC Verva Litvinov in his native Czechia.

"Litvínov was the number one choice for me. I had other offers, but they didn't make sense to me. I wanted to play with my brother and I also wanted to be closer to home," Kase said in a team release, per Google Translate. "I was attracted by the opportunity to take on the role of a leader and help the team to the higher levels of the table."

It's worth noting, I feel, that Kase's brother David Kase plays for HC Verva Litvinov, as well. You have to imagine that that factored heavily into Ondrej's decision.

The 27 year old played just one game for the Hurricanes last season due to ongoing concussion issues. He managed to earn himself a one year, $1.5 million deal with the Hurricanes last offseason though due to a stellar 2021-22 campaign with the Leafs. Kase put up 14 goals and 27 points in just 50 games with the Leafs that season and looked like he was on his way to becoming a regular 20+ goal scorer at the NHL level. Again, concussion issues sidelined him though and now it appears as if he had no takers in free agency. Of course, there's always the possibility though that Kase did have NHL offers, but instead took the opportunity to play with his brother in his native land. Can't blame a guy if that's the case. It'll be interesting to see if he generates any interest next offseason though, assuming he has a healthy and productive season overseas in Czechia. 

Kase has the talent, no doubt, it's just a matter of whether or not he can stay healthy and if he can refine his defensive game. If this is indeed the end of his NHL career though he'll end it with 57 goals and 124 points in 258 regular season games. Not bad at all for a guy taken in the 7th round of his draft. Not bad at all.