Utah Hockey Club announced today the signing of defenseman Patrik Koch to a one-year, two-way contract. As per club policy, terms of the contract were not disclosed.
The 27-year-old Koch registered 1-14-15 and 97 penalty minutes (PIM) in 63 games with the Tucson Roadrunners (AHL) and played in one NHL game with the Arizona Coyotes in 2023-24. Koch recently played in eight games with Slovakia at the 2024 World Championship, recording 1-3-4 and six PIM.
The Malacky, Slovakia native registered 3-9-12 with 69 PIM in 46 regular season games with the Czech Extraliga’s HC Vitkovice and added 2-2-4 and 17 PIM over 16 playoff games in 2022-23. Koch also represented Slovakia at the 2023 World Championship where he recorded 1-3-4 in seven games to lead all Slovakia defensemen in scoring.
The 6-foot-1, 190-pound defenseman played three seasons (2020-20223) for Vitkovice, posting 6-17-23 with 265 PIM in 156 games, including eight games with HC Kometa Brno over parts of the 2015-17 seasons where he was teammates with Utah goaltender Karel Vejmelka.
Koch began his professional career by playing five seasons in the Slovak Extraliga (2015-19), collecting 6-29-35 with 266 PIM and a plus-17 rating in 193 career contests, including a professional career-best 4-13-17 and 100 PIM for HC Kosice in 2018-19. He also played one season in North America for the USHL’s Des Moines Buccaneers in 2014-15, collecting 3-4-7 and 35 PIM in 23 games.
