Samuel Buček
| Samuel Buček | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Born |
19 December 1998 | ||
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (191 cm) | ||
| Weight | 192 lb (87 kg; 13 st 10 lb) | ||
| Position | Right wing | ||
| Shoots | Right | ||
| Slovak Extraliga team Former teams |
HC Slovan Bratislava KooKoo HK Nitra Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk HC Oceláři Třinec | ||
| National team |
 Slovakia | ||
| NHL draft | Undrafted | ||
| Playing career | 2017–present | ||
Samuel Buček (born 19 December 1998) is a Slovak professional ice hockey forward who is currently playing for HC Slovan Bratislava of the Slovak Extraliga.
Playing career
Undrafted, Buček made his professional debut playing in the Tipsport liga (Slovak) with HK Nitra during the 2015–16 season.[1]
Buček made 5 appearances in the Finnish Liiga, with KooKoo before returning to Nitra during the 2019–20 season. He moved to fellow Slovakian club, HC Slovan Bratislava during the following 2020–21 season, collecting 11 points through just 14 games.[2]
As a free agent, Buček opted to pursue a career in North America. On 11 July 2022, he became the first player in franchise history to be signed by the Coachella Valley Firebirds of the American Hockey League (AHL). He was signed to a one-year contract for the Firebirds inaugural season in 2022–23, serving as the primary affiliate to the Seattle Kraken of the National Hockey League (NHL).[3] Before joining the Firebirds, on 8 August 2022, Buček signed a one-year contract with Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk of the KHL, opting to pursue a career in Russia instead.[4] He only played six games for Nizhnekamsk before signing for Czech side HC Oceláři Třinec in October 2022.[5] He ended up playing the 2022–23 season in the Czech Extraliga, featuring in 36 regular-season games as well as 8 times in the play-offs as Třinec won the title. He left the club after the end of the season.[6]
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
Bold indicates led league
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2014–15 | HK Nitra | SVK-Jr | 4 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 10 | ||
| 2015–16 | HK Nitra | SVK-Jr | 10 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2015–16 | HK Nitra | SVK | 26 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2015–16 | Chicago Steel | USHL | 18 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 24 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2016–17 | Shawinigan Cataractes | QMJHL | 52 | 12 | 21 | 33 | 26 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2017–18 | Chicago Steel | USHL | 49 | 20 | 24 | 44 | 48 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 2 | ||
| 2018–19 | HK Nitra | SVK | 53 | 30 | 21 | 51 | 20 | 18 | 9 | 5 | 14 | 4 | ||
| 2019–20 | KooKoo | FIN | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2019–20 | HK Nitra | SVK | 42 | 15 | 12 | 27 | 36 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2020–21 | HC Slovan Bratislava | SVK | 14 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 8 | ||
| 2021–22 | HK Nitra | SVK | 50 | 41 | 23 | 64 | 34 | 19 | 13 | 11 | 24 | 18 | ||
| 2022–23 | Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk | KHL | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2022–23 | HC Oceláři Třinec | CZE | 36 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| SVK totals | 185 | 92 | 66 | 158 | 98 | 41 | 22 | 18 | 40 | 30 | ||||
International
| Year | Team | Event | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Slovakia | U17 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2015 | Slovakia | IH18 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | |
| 2016 | Slovakia | U18 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 12 | |
| 2018 | Slovakia | WJC | 5 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 0 | |
| Junior totals | 19 | 9 | 8 | 17 | 14 | |||
Awards and honours
| Award | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Slovak Extraliga | ||
| Playoffs MVP | 2019, 2022 | [7][8] |
References
- ↑ "Samuel Buček znova hráčom Nitry". HK Nitra (in Slovak). 18 October 2019. Archived from the original on 2 August 2020.
- ↑ "A resounding support for the offence, Samuel Buček signed a contract with HC Slovan". HC Slovan Bratislava. Archived from the original on 26 October 2020.
- ↑ "Coachella Valley Firebirds sign first two players". Coachella Valley Firebirds. 11 July 2022. Retrieved 13 March 2025.
- ↑ Нефтехимик подписал контракт с Самуэлем Бучеком [Neftekhimik signed a contract with Samuel Bucek]. HC Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk (in Russian). 8 August 2022. Retrieved 13 March 2025.
- ↑ Sobotka, Michal (15 September 2023). "Buček o angažmá v Rusku: Šel jsem tam hrát hokej, v Třinci mi to nikdo vyžrat nedal". sport.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 28 July 2026.
- ↑ "Třinec zlákal dvoch slovenských hokejistov. Samuel Buček v klube skončil". šport.sk (in Slovak). 3 May 2023. Retrieved 28 July 2026.
- ↑ "Dvadsaťročný Buček získal ocenenie pre najužitočnejšieho hráča play off". Sme. Petit Press. 16 April 2019. Retrieved 13 March 2025.
- ↑ "Zlatú korčuľu získal Buček z Nitry, má už druhú trofej". Hokej Portal (in Slovak). 1 May 2022. Retrieved 13 March 2025.
External links
- Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Eurohockey.com, or The Internet Hockey Database
- 1998 births
- Living people
- Chicago Steel players
- HK Nitra players
- HC Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk players
- HC Oceláři Třinec players
- HC Slovan Bratislava players
- KooKoo players
- Shawinigan Cataractes players
- Slovak expatriate ice hockey players in Canada
- Slovak expatriate ice hockey players in Finland
- Slovak expatriate ice hockey players in Russia
- Slovak expatriate ice hockey players in the Czech Republic
- Slovak expatriate ice hockey players in the United States
- Slovak ice hockey right wingers
- Ice hockey people from Nitra
- 21st-century Slovak sportsmen