The Utah Hockey Club announced today that it has signed defenseman Patrick Koch to a one-year, two-way contract. Per club policy, terms of the contract were not made public.
Koch, 27, appeared in 63 games with the Tucson Roadrunners (AHL) recording a 1-14-15 record and 97 penalty minutes (PIM) and played one NHL game with the Arizona Coyotes in 2023-24. Koch most recently appeared in eight games for Slovakia at the 2024 World Championship recording a 1-3-4 record and six penalty minutes.
A native of Malacky, Slovakia, Koch recorded 3-9-12 goals and 69 penalty minutes in 46 regular season games with HC Vitkovice in the Czech Extraliga and 2-2-4 goals and 17 penalty minutes in 16 playoff games in the 2022-23 season. Koch will also play for Slovakia at the 2023 World Championship, recording 1-3-4 goals in seven games and being the country's leading scorer among defensemen.
The 6-foot-1, 190-pound defenseman played three seasons (2020-2023) with Vitkovice, recording 6-17-23 records and 265 penalty minutes in 156 games, including eight games as teammates with Utah goaltender Karel Vejmerka at HC Kometa Brno for parts of the 2015-17 seasons.
Koch began his professional career playing five seasons in the Slovak Extraliga (2015-19) where he compiled a 6-29-35 record with 266 PIM and a plus-17 rating in 193 games, including a pro career-best 4-13-17 record with 100 PIM with HC Kosice in 2018-19. He also played one season in North America with the Des Moines Buccaneers of the USHL in 2014-15 where he compiled a 3-4-7 record with 35 PIM in 23 games.
