Five former NHLers thriving in Europe in 2026-27

Oct 13, 2026, 09:00 EDT

Five former NHLers thriving in Europe in 2026-27

Credit: USA TODAY Sports

Tools like Puckpedia’s Puckdoku and events such as the Spengler Cup have made it fun to Remember Some Guys.

And that’s exactly what we’re doing today. The NHL season is still in its infancy, but most leagues around Europe have been fully active for weeks now. If you’re a true hockey sicko, you start your day with a couple of games overseas before capping things off back in North America.

That’s what we do here – we watch hockey at all hours of the day, every single day. Today, let’s look at five players with NHL experience who are currently lighting it up in the top pro hockey leagues in Europe:

Roman Červenka, C, 40 (HC Dynamo Pardubice, Tipsport Extraliga)

Remember when the Czechs needed offense at the Olympics, so they put Červenka back beside his good buddy and World Championship linemate, David Pastrnak, and they immediately connected? Good times. Červenka has shown absolutely no signs of slowing down, despite being set to turn 41 in two months. The former Calgary Flames forward only played 39 games in the NHL, but he’s been an absolute powerhouse back home in Czechia ever since. Even though he’s not the skater he once was, Červenka was the Czech Extraliga player of the year last year (and playoff MVP) after helping Pardubice win the league title. He had 60 points in the regular season and 25 in the playoffs; simply remarkable stuff.

Červenka is back at it again, playing at a pace of nearly 100 points already. Obviously, the Czech league is far below the NHL, but it’s still one of the toughest European pro circuits in the world, and yet Červenka is making it look like a cake walk. He has another year left on his contract, but why stop there? Could Červenka keep it going for another five years? Given he’s playing some of the best hockey of his career right now while leading the league in points, it’s hard not to root for the guy.

Nikolay Goldobin, RW, 31 (SKA St. Petersburg, KHL)

A first-round pick in 2014, Goldobin entered the NHL as one of the most intriguing European prospects. He was productive at every level, and he made a great impression during the 2015 World Juniors. But the winger never seemed to make it work, and by the end of 2020, Goldobin was back in Russia. He hasn’t left since. He had a breakout 78-point season with Spartak Moskva in 2023-24 and has remained one of the top players in the league.

Once known more for his goal scoring, Goldobin is tracking for 91 assists already this year. While that’s not likely to last, Goldobin has easily been St. Petersburg’s top forward and has the upper hand on the KHL scoring race as a whole. Goldobin has had multiple four-point games and even registered a five-point effort back in mid-September. At 31, his NHL days are well behind him, but he’s still showcasing his quick hands and offensive instincts while getting highly paid back home. That’s living the dream.

Jesse Puljujärvi, RW, 28 (Geneve-Servette, NL)

Puljujärvi is one of the highest-profile players to fizzle out after going high in the NHL Draft in recent memory. Selected fourth overall in 2016 by Edmonton, the Bison King struggled to stay consistent and ultimately bounced between teams and leagues for a few years. Puljujärvi made the jump over to Switzerland last year, where he had an explosive 52-point campaign through 52 games with Geneve-Servette. He then capped off the year with nine points at the World Championship to help the Finns win gold. He’s already on pace for around 70 points this year, although a suspension for a hit on former NHLer Erik Brännström didn’t help.

The 6-foot-4 winger clearly has the tools to dominate in Europe. NHL teams seemed interested in the 28-year-old last summer, but nothing came of it. He doesn’t have a contract yet for next season, so it’ll be interesting to see if a team takes another chance on him in a depth scoring role. Puljujärvi might not be the high-impact player scouts were hoping he’d be, but he can still get the job done in specific roles, and that might be worth a one-year flier.

Jeff Skinner, LW, 34 (EHC Biel-Bienne, NL)

Skinner had the most prominent NHL career of anyone on this list. He recorded 379 goals and 712 points in 1,110 games over 16 years. He set a personal-best of 82 points in 2022-23 (two years after many thought his NHL days were numbered following a 14-point effort) and even won the Calder Trophy in 2011. The 2017 World Championship silver medallist dealt with inconsistency throughout his career. But at his best, he was capable of 30-goal seasons and was often near his team’s scoring lead.

But after a difficult 2025-26 campaign with the San Jose Sharks, Skinner made the jump to Europe for the first time, signing with EHC Biel-Bienne in the top league in Switzerland. He had an outstanding debut, registering three points, before getting injured later that week. Skinner has since returned to action, and has a point in every game so far. He’s been a leader on a team that features former NHLers Victor Soderstrom and Harri Sateri, as well as projected top 10 2027 NHL Draft pick Jonah Neuenschwander. In just about every clip you see of Skinner, he’s smiling, thriving and having an absolute blast. You absolutely love to see it.

Andrej Šustr, RHD, 35 (Jukurit, Liiga)

Šustr had 11 goals and 69 points over 362 NHL games, which is nothing to sneeze at for a 6-foot-7 defender who seemed to specialize on the penalty kill. He primarily bounced around the NHL and AHL throughout his North American pro career, but he has spent the better part of the past decade in Europe. His career is so fascinating; the Czech-born defender has played in the United States, China, Czechia, Germany, Finland and Sweden over the past seven years.

Now playing in the top Finnish pro league, he managed to put up 14 points in his first 12 games – for reference, he had just six points between the AHL and Allsvenskan last year, and 12 points in 38 games in his first time in Finland two years ago. Jukurit is one of the top teams right now, and Šustr is seemingly playing with a level of confidence and skill that few defenders his size have managed to display. It’s also fun seeing him thriving at 35 years old – the dude just loves playing hockey.

Also considered: Alexander Radulov, RW, 40 (Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, KHL); Ty Smith, D, 26 (Dinamo Minsk, KHL); Filip Chlapík, C, 29 (HC Sparta Praha, Tipsport Extraliga); Malcolm Subban, G, 32 (HC Dynamo Pardubice, Tipsport Extraliga); Oscar Lindberg, C, 34 (Skellefteå AIK, SHL)

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