Christián Jaroš

Christián Jaroš (born 2 April 1996) is a Slovak professional ice hockey defenceman for HC Spartak Moscow of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). Jaroš was drafted 139th overall in the 2015 NHL entry draft by the Ottawa Senators.

Playing career Jaros made his Swedish Hockey League debut playing with Luleå HF during the 2014–15 SHL season.

On 30 May 2017, Jaroš was signed to a three-year, entry-level contract by the Ottawa Senators. He made his NHL debut on 10 October against the Vancouver Canucks, playing six minutes of the shootout win for the Senators. He only played a total of two games in the NHL that season. He played hockey with Ottowa's American Hockey League (AHL) team, the Belleville Senators, recording 8 points (1 goal and 7 assists) in the 21 games he played until the end of 2017.

Despite beginning the 2018–19 season in the AHL, Jaroš was recalled to the NHL and on 21 November 2018, scored his first career NHL goal in a 6–4 loss to the Minnesota Wild. He finished the 2018–19 season with 61 NHL games, recording nine assists to add to his goal. In spite of that, he started the 2019–20 season in the AHL as well, only making his first NHL appearance against the New York Rangers on 23 November 2019. He made his debut for the Sharks on 6 April, in a 5–1 loss to the Anaheim Ducks. His first point came four days later, assisting Dylan Gambrell for the first Sharks goal, in a 4–2 defeat by the Los Angeles Kings.

On 26 July 2021, Jaroš was traded by San Jose to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for Nick Merkley. In the following 2021–22 season, he remained on the Devils roster, serving in a depth defenceman role. He appeared in 11 games for the Devils before he was placed on waivers and re-assigned to AHL affiliate, the Utica Comets, at the NHL trade deadline, on 21 March 2022. After failing to report to the AHL, Jaroš was placed on unconditional waivers in order to mutually terminate the remainder of his contract with the Devils on 24 March.

On 9 June 2022, Jaroš signed one-year contract with Avangard Omsk of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). In the 2022–23 season, Jaroš featured in 24 games from the blueline for Avangard Omsk, registering three goals and six assists. On 23 December, Jaroš was traded by Avangard Omsk to CSKA Moscow in exchange for Dmitri Alexeyev. He won the Gagarin Cup in 2023 with SKA Moscow, although missed the playoffs due to injury. In the off-season, Jaroš was announced to have left CSKA on 1 July 2023. On 19 October, his KHL rights were traded to Severstal Cherepovets.

After a lone season with Severstal, Jaroš returned for a second stint with former club CSKA Moscow, in signing a one-year contract on 4 July 2024. In the 2024–25 season, Jaroš in a top four pairing role contributed with 2 goals and 12 points in 51 regular season games for CSKA.

As a free agent, Jaroš opted to return to North America by agreeing to a one-year, two-way contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets for the season on 1 July 2025. However, just three months later, Jaroš was waived for the purposes of a mutual termination. He later returned to the KHL, joining Spartak Moscow on an initial one-year agreement on 6 October 2025.

Personal life Jaroš is a cousin of Erik Černák, who plays for the Tampa Bay Lightning and won a Stanley Cup in 2020 and 2021.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 2010–11 HC Košice SVK U18 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 2010–11 HK Trebišov SVK.2 U18 5 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 2011–12 HC Košice SVK U18 38 4 10 14 26 — — — — — 2012–13 HC Košice SVK U18 15 3 17 20 16 2 0 0 0 0 2013–14 Luleå HF J18 16 4 8 12 20 — — — — — 2013–14 Luleå HF J18 Allsv 18 7 6 13 24 5 0 2 2 6 2013–14 Luleå HF J20 3 1 3 4 0 — — — — — 2014–15 Luleå HF J20 23 4 8 12 74 3 0 1 1 6 2014–15 Luleå HF SHL 25 0 1 1 6 — — — — — 2014–15 Asplöven HC Allsv 6 0 1 1 0 — — — — — 2015–16 Luleå HF SHL 25 0 5 5 45 10 0 3 3 20 2015–16 Asplöven HC Allsv 22 2 3 5 53 — — — — — 2016–17 Luleå HF SHL 36 5 8 13 22 — — — — — 2017–18 Belleville Senators AHL 44 3 13 16 43 — — — — — 2017–18 Ottawa Senators NHL 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 2018–19 Ottawa Senators NHL 61 1 9 10 27 — — — — — 2018–19 Belleville Senators AHL 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 2019–20 Belleville Senators AHL 34 2 13 15 14 — — — — — 2019–20 Ottawa Senators NHL 13 0 3 3 6 — — — — — 2020–21 San Jose Barracuda AHL 11 0 3 3 2 — — — — — 2020–21 San Jose Sharks NHL 7 0 1 1 2 — — — — — 2021–22 New Jersey Devils NHL 11 0 0 0 2 — — — — — 2022–23 Avangard Omsk KHL 24 3 6 9 4 — — — — — 2022–23 CSKA Moscow KHL 16 0 3 3 12 — — — — — 2023–24 Severstal Cherepovets KHL 41 3 15 18 14 3 1 0 1 2 2024–25 CSKA Moscow KHL 51 2 10 12 18 6 0 0 0 2 2025–26 Spartak Moscow KHL 41 1 11 12 31 5 0 1 1 0 NHL totals 94 1 13 14 37 — — — — — KHL totals 173 9 45 54 79 14 1 1 2 4

International Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM 2013 Slovakia IH18 8th 4 1 1 2 2 2014 Slovakia WJC18 8th 5 1 1 2 6 2015 Slovakia WJC 7 0 1 1 8 2016 Slovakia WJC 7th 5 1 1 2 2 2016 Slovakia WC 9th 5 2 0 2 10 2018 Slovakia WC 9th 7 1 0 1 0 2019 Slovakia WC 9th 4 0 2 2 2 2021 Slovakia OGQ Q 3 0 0 0 22 Junior totals 21 3 4 7 18 Senior totals 19 3 2 5 34

Awards and honours Award Year KHL Gagarin Cup champion 2023