Jakub Brabenec

Jakub Brabenec (born 11 September 2003) is a Czech professional ice hockey who is a forward for HC Kometa Brno of the Czech Extraliga. He previously played for the Henderson Silver Knights of the American Hockey League (AHL), as well as HC Stadion Litoměřice and SK Horácká Slavia Třebíč of the Chance Liga, and the Charlottetown Islanders and Sherbrooke Phoenix in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). (he became the joint-fourth youngest scorer in the league's history – future NHL man Pavel Zacha first found the net at exactly the same age in 2013). Soon afterwards that season was curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the playoffs cancelled. He was a first-round pick by the Charlottetown Islanders of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League in the 2020 CHL Import Draft, but due to complications of the pandemic he did not move to Canada at that point, instead he remained with Brno and made 23 regular season appearances in the 2020–21 Czech Extraliga season, though only provided one assist, and had a short loan with SK Horácká Slavia Třebíč. In the 2021 NHL entry draft, Brabenec was selected in the fourth round (102nd overall) by the Vegas Golden Knights.

He completed his move to Charlottetown ahead of the 2021–22 QMJHL season and contributed 83 points across 73 appearances in the regular season and playoffs as the team from Prince Edward Island enjoyed one of their strongest campaigns, reaching the President's Cup finals for the first time, though they lost out to the Shawinigan Cataractes. He was awarded the RDS Cup as the league's Rookie of the Year and the Michel Bergeron Trophy as Best Offensive Rookie. In December of that year he agreed to a three-year entry-level contract with Vegas Golden Knights.

Brabanec began the following season at Charlottetown, but in January 2023 they decided to capitalise on his value after a strong showing at the 2023 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships and traded him to the Sherbrooke Phoenix in a player-plus-draft-picks trade deal. The Phoenix advanced to the playoffs semi-finals but were eliminated by the Halifax Mooseheads despite winning the first two games of the series on the road. Ahead of the 2023–24 season Brabanec attended the Vegas Golden Knights training camp but was sent to local farm team, the Henderson Silver Knights of the AHL, along with compatriot Jiří Patera, a goaltender who already played two NHL games for Vegas.

Following three seasons in Vegas' organization, Brabenec returned to Czechia, signing a two-year contract with a third-year option to return to Kometa Brno on 18 May 2026.

International play

Brabenec represented the Czech Republic at the 2021 IIHF World U18 Championships where he appeared in five games and made four assists.

He was named in the original Czech Republic squad for the 2022 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships which originally began in December 2021 (he played in two matches with one assist), but those results were annulled due to the COVID-19 cancellation of the tournament, and when it was replayed in August 2022 he did not take part. He again represented the Czech Republic at the 2023 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships where he recorded one goal and six assists in seven games and won a silver medal (he was named his team's MVP in the overtime loss to Canada).

Jakub's grandfather, also named Kamil, was an international basketball player for Czechoslovakia in the 1970s and 80s; his aunt and elder sister also played that sport at a high level.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 2019–20 HC Kometa Brno ELH 2 1 0 1 0 — — — — — 2019–20 HC Stadion Litoměřice Czech.1 10 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 2020–21 HC Kometa Brno ELH 23 0 1 1 4 — — — — — 2020–21 SK Horácká Slavia Třebíč Czech.1 3 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 2021–22 Charlottetown Islanders QMJHL 58 17 47 64 8 15 5 14 19 14 2022–23 Charlottetown Islanders QMJHL 28 8 17 25 16 — — — — — 2022–23 Sherbrooke Phoenix QMJHL 26 10 25 35 10 14 2 7 9 12 2023–24 Henderson Silver Knights AHL 48 6 7 13 16 — — — — — 2024–25 Henderson Silver Knights AHL 62 9 13 22 12 — — — — — 2025–26 Henderson Silver Knights AHL 62 12 19 31 34 6 0 0 0 0 ELH totals 25 1 1 2 4 — — — — —

International play Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM 2019 Czech Republic U17 6 0 0 0 0 2021 Czech Republic U18 7th 5 0 4 4 2 2023 Czech Republic WJC 7 1 6 7 10Junior totals 18 1 10 11 12

Awards and honours Award Year QMJHL Rookie of the Year (RDS Cup)2022 Offensive Rookie of the Year (Michel Bergeron Trophy) All-Rookie Team