Milan Hejduk - Playing Career

Playing Career

The 6-foot tall, 190-pound Hejduk was drafted 87th overall by the Quebec Nordiques in the 4th round of the 1994 NHL Entry Draft, after a year with HC Pardubice in the Czech Extraliga, after winning Czech Rookie of the Year with 11 goals in 32 games. He stayed with Pardubice until 1998, scoring 14, 13, 27, and 26 goals in his next 4 seasons before transferring to the NHL after the 1997–98 season.

He won the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy as the NHL's top goalscorer when he scored 50 goals for the Avalanche in the 2002–03 season, narrowly beating Markus Näslund of the Vancouver Canucks, who had been leading for most of the season. Hejduk scored a goal against the Calgary Flames in a 3–0 win for the Avalanche on March 12, 2006, tying him with Peter Forsberg in sixth place on the all-time Avalanche franchise goalscoring list with 216 goals. He won the Stanley Cup in 2001 with the Colorado Avalanche.

During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Hejduk returned to HC Pardubice, racking up 25 goals in 48 Czech Extraliga games. Hejduk with Pardubice won Extraliga.

In the 2008–09 season, Hejduk scored his 300th goal alongside Ryan Smyth on January 18, 2009 against the Calgary Flames in a 6–2 victory at the Pepsi Center. He dressed for all 82 games that year for the Avalanche and ended their most unsuccessful season in history tied with Smyth as the Avs' top scorer with 59 points. Milan also led the Avalanche for the fifth time in his career with 27 goals.

Prior to the 2009–10 campaign, Hejduk was signed to an additional one-year contract extension ending in 2011 on September 24, 2009. Alongside long-time teammate and Captain Adam Foote, Hejduk provided veteran leadership to a re-invigorated youth laden Avalanche side to start the year. After initially persisting with a knee and back injuries through the first half of the season, on January 19, 2010, Milan opted to undergo arthroscopic knee surgery and forgo the 2010 Winter Olympics with the Czech Republic to recoup. After over a month on the sidelines, Hejduk scored two goals against the St. Louis Blues to mark his return on March 7. In helping Colorado return to the playoffs, he completed the year to place third on the team with 23 goals despite playing in a career low 56 games. Hejduk scored just 1 goal in the playoffs before he succumbed to a head injury after a collision with line-mate Paul Stastny in Game 3 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals series defeat against the San Jose Sharks.

On May 11, 2011, Hejduk extended his stay with the Avalanche signing a one-year contract for the 2011–12 season. On November 14, Milan Hejduk was named the third captain in Colorado Avalanche history after a brief vacancy left by Adam Foote's retirement. Milan saw a decline in his offensive production for his first season as team captain. Scoring 14 goals and 37 points in 81 games, this ended his impressive career streak of 12 straight 20-plus-goal seasons. Shortly after the 2011-12 season, after the Avs would miss the postseason for the second time in two years, Hejduk has stated he considers retirement. Despite these statements, he re-signed with the Avalanche to a one-year, $2M contract on May 18, 2012. In September 2012, Milan relinquished his captaincy due to his role in the organization changing. Milan has admitted however to being happy to have given up his captaincy to who he thinks is going to be a franchise player for a long time.

As of 2012, Hejduk and goaltender Tim Thomas of the Boston Bruins are the only players drafted by the Quebec Nordiques still active in the NHL. Thomas' career is currently on hiatus.