The champions of Poland have officially been crowned in Unia Oswiecim. Now that the celebrations are dying out, every club is turning their focus on to next season. Club leaders have already met to discuss possible rule changes, like moving to five-on-five overtime in the playoffs. Teams have also began building their squads for next season with some retaining their cores. Others are looking to poach talent from their rivals. Every week we will recap all the transactions from the past seven days. For this first rendition we will look at all the current moves made since the playoffs began.

Cracovia Krakow

• Łukasz Hebda will be staying in Cracovia as the club continues it’s youth movement. The 23-year-old goalie struggled with an .861 SV% in seven appearances last year.
• One of the leading U23 scorers from this past season will also be staying with Cracovia as Mateusz Bezwinski signed a new one year deal, with an option to extend for another. The Krakow native posted career highs in points (15) and assists (13).

GKS Katowice

• Katowice will look to get back to it’s championship winning ways and starts with a big re-signing in Santeri Koponen. The Finnish defender is a strong leader off the ice and top defenseman on it. In his first year in Poland he led Katowice defensemen in points with 34 points (11-23-34PTS). He unfortunately missed most of the playoffs due to an injury.

GKS Tychy

• Two more years in Tychy for Mateusz Gościński. The former Torun junior player will be in his eight season with Tychy at only 26-years-old. His numbers were able to rebound nicely as the 6’2 forward put up 14 points (5G-9A-14PTS) in 42 games.
• After coming over from Sanok at the transfer deadline, Mark Viitanen will be staying put in Tychy. The Estonian import made a quick impact posting 12 points (5G-7A-12PTS) in 19 games with the club. This will be his third season playing in Poland.
• Quite a few players have already been announced as departing GKS Tychy. After a 15 year run, national team forward Radosław Galant will look for a new home. The power forward was a fan favorite playing in 744 games with the club. The Krynica native is a four time THL champion and three time Polish Cup winner. Former THL top scorer Jakub Bukowski will depart after two disappointing seasons. This year saw the lowest point total in his career at six (5G-1A-6PTS). There are already quite a few clubs interested in the 23-year-old forward. Polish National team defenseman Oskar Jaśkiewicz is leaving as well. There are rumors of him joining Cracovia. After going pointless in 49 games last year, Jaśkiewicz rebounded with 19 points (2G-17A-19PTS) in 46 games.

JKH GKS Jastrzebie

• Emil Bagin had one of the largest production jumps in Poland after a 28 point (10G-18A-28PTS) year, up from 11 points with GKS Tychy in 2023. He will look to keep those numbers up after extending his deal with Jastrzebie.
• Former Slovakia World Juniors goalie Jakub Lackovič will be guarding the net for Jastrzebie again. In his first season in Poland, he battled Maciej Miarka for starts during the regular season. Lackovič earned the sole starting job for the playoffs and impressed with a 924 SV%.
• Łukasz Nalewajka will be suiting up for his 14th season with JKH GKS Jastrzebie. The 30 year-old started appearing for the club all the way back in 2011. This past season, the former captain had a career low with four points (1G-3A-4PTS) in 30 games.
• Among the players that won’t be returning is Rastislav Špirko. The veteran Slovak import led the team in scoring during the regulars season with 45 points (10G-35A-45PTS) in 37 games. He had a rough playoff run only assisting on four goals in 12 matches.

KH Torun

• Torun was quick to lock up a lot of their core this year. During the playoffs and regular season the club had already re-signed their top imports in Latvian forward Deniss Fjodorovs, Kazakhstani winger Ruslan Bashirov, and Belarusian forward Nikolai Syty. Fjodorovs made a strong first impression recording 25 points (12G-13A-25PTS) in 43 games. The 23-year-old previously served as the captain of Latvia U20. Bashirov will be in his sixth year in Poland, fourth in the THL. In his THL career, he has 92 points (35G-57A-92PTS) in 118 games. Syty will be playing in his fourth year with Torun. The 24-year-old had a career year with 38 points (14G-24A-38PTS). He was also an assistant coach or Torun’s junior team, Sokoly Torun U20.
• The club also locked up their Polish defensive stars with Adrian Jaworski, Eryk Schafer, and Mateusz Zieliński all staying. Zieliński is the biggest name among the trio. He has earned a lot of praise this past year and represented Poland at the 2024 Olympic Qualifiers. 2025 will be his tenth year in the THL. Adrian Jaworski has played for Torun since the 2015 season. This year he scored twice and assisted on eight as well. U20 National team captain Eryk Schafer will remain at his home club. He has already appeared in parts of four THL season, playing in 94 games.

Podhale Nowy Targ

• Marcin Horzelski will continue to lead the Podhale defense for a second season. The 28-year-old defenseman has played all around Poland. In 2024, he recorded four points (2G-2A-4PTS) in 44 games. He represented Poland at the 2024 Olympic Qualifiers.
• The THL leading scorer will be staying in Podhale, as Patryk Wronka chose to re-sign. More on his season and re-signing here.
• Robert Mrugała will be returning for a 13th year with Podhale Nowy Targ. Unfortunately the defenseman’s 2024 season was cut short at eight games after suffering an injury in October.
• Podhale was able to grab two players from JKH GKS Jastrzebie in Dominik Jarosz and Patryk Pelaczyk. Jarosz had a career year with 24 points (11G-13A-24PTS) in 46 games. He had played in the Jastrzebie organization almost his entire career. Pelaczyk has not always found a consistent spot in the Jastrzebie lineup. The 6’5 forward recorded five points (1G-4A-5PTS) in 23 games in 2024.
• One of the most improved players of last year, Jakub Worwa, will look to continue to build on his career year with Podhale. The Italian born forward has played his entire junior and senior career in Poland, outside a few games in Slovakia. This past season saw him record 22 points (9G-13A-22PTS) in 46 games.
• Prior to the end of the playoffs, Podhale had already re-signed defenseman Dmitri Zalamay. Zalamay was the offensive leader on the Podhale defense this year. The 6’6 Belarusian defenseman posted 29 points (8G-19A-29PTS) in 46 games.
• Paweł Bizub was also quick to re-sign with the club. After the team tested multiple goalies throughout the season, Bizub took over the starting role. He had a great but short playoff run with a save percentage of .922 in six games against GKS Tychy.

STS Sanok

• No moves for Sanok this week as they continue to figure out their financial situation.

Unia Oswiecim

• The defending champs have already started to retain their core. Kalle Valtola will officially return for a fourth season in Poland, and second with Oswiecim. The offensive defenseman led all defenders in points with 41 (15G-26A-41PTS). The Turku, Finland native has 87 points in 139 THL career games.
• They also are reportedly keeping his countryman and former STS Sanok teammate Ville Heikkinen. Heikkinen was electric in the playoffs scoring at a point per game pace with 19 (6G-13-19PTS) in 19 games. Overall on the year, the Finnish forward had 48 points (22G-26A-48PTS)
• A third Fin was brought back for a third season with the club in Erik Ahopelto. Ahopelto remained a key forward for Oswiecim. The former Liiga and Mestis center recorded 45 points (21G-24G-45PTS) in 58 games. His 37 goals over the past two years are eight among all skaters.

Zaglebie Sosnowiec

• For a ninth straight year Jakub Šaur is staying in Poland. The Czech defender will return for a second year with Sosnowiec after posting seven points (2G-5A-7PTS) in 42 games. The THL veteran previously played for Unia Oswiecim (2017-2020) and Cracovia Krakow (2021-2023).
• The club also re-signed his countryman Marek Charvát. Charvát played in his second THL season in 2024, first since 2017 (JKH GKS Jastrzebie). He was a welcomed offensive surprise for the club as he led Sosnowiec defenders in scoring with 22 points (3G-19A-22PTS) in 46 games.
• Ukrainian national team member Nikita Butsenko is also returning for a sixth season with the club. Butsenko has played a key middle six role for Sosnowiec since his return to the Polish league. He recorded 18 points (6G-12-18PTS) in 46 games.

Polish Players Abroad

• Adam Domogala is staying in the Oberliga for a fifth straight season. He will be switching teams, moving to MEC Halle 04. Last year, the forward posted 27 points (11G-16-27PTS) in 21 games for Saale Bulls Halle. He previously won back-to-back THL Championships with Cracovia in 2016 and 2017.

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