Marián Gáborík, born on 14 February 1982, is a Slovak former professional ice hockey right winger. He began his playing career in the Slovak Extraliga with Dukla Trenčín for two seasons before being drafted third overall in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft by the Minnesota Wild, becoming the highest-drafted Slovak player in National Hockey League (NHL) history until Juraj Slafkovský, who was drafted 1st overall by the Montreal Canadiens in 2022. Gáborík spent eight seasons with the Wild from 2000 to 2009, becoming the team's all-time leading goal scorer, before signing with the New York Rangers in 2009. He has also played for the Columbus Blue Jackets, Los Angeles Kings, and Ottawa Senators in the NHL until retiring in 2018.
Marian Gaborik during his NHL career.
Early Career
Gáborík played with Dukla Trenčín's junior team and scored 59 points over 36 games in 1997-98. That same season, he appeared in one Slovak Extraliga game with Dukla Trenčín's men's team, scoring a goal in his professional debut. The following season, in 1998-99, he joined Dukla Trenčín in the Slovak Extraliga full-time and registered 20 points over 33 games as a rookie.
Minnesota Wild (2000-2009)
Gáborík was the first-ever draft pick for the expansion Minnesota Wild, drafted with the third overall pick in the first round of the 2000 NHL Entry Draft after Rick DiPietro and Dany Heatley. Gáborík immediately showed promise during his rookie season with the Wild, scoring the team's first ever regular season goal en route to collecting 18 goals and 36 points for the expansion Wild.
He elevated his game the following season, in 2001-02, notching his first 30-goal season and nearly doubling his rookie output to 67 points. He also recorded his first career NHL hat-trick near the beginning of the season on 13 November 2001. In 2002-03, Gáborík was named to his first NHL All-Star Game and won the fastest skater competition, lapping the rink in 13.713 seconds. He notched 30 goals for the second consecutive season, but more importantly helped lead the Wild to their first Stanley Cup playoffs appearance.
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Contractual issues kept Gáborík from starting the 2003-04 season with the Wild, as his initial entry-level contract came to an end in the off-season. Holding out with Dukla Trenčín, his agent, Allan Walsh, asserted that Gáborík would not take less than $6.5 million a year. After switching agents three times, Gáborík eventually agreed to a three-year, $10 million contract with the Wild on 31 October 2003. Limited to 65 games that season, he recorded 18 goals and 40 points.
Due to the 2004-05 NHL lockout, Gáborík again returned to Dukla Trenčín, where he dominated with 52 points in 29 games. As NHL play resumed in 2005-06, Gáborík took another step forward, becoming a point-per-game player with 38 goals and 66 points in a 65-game season limited by a groin injury. His season was shortened once more the following season in 2006-07, re-injuring his groin on 20 October 2006, against the Anaheim Ducks. Despite a 10- to 14-day estimated recovery time, he did not return to the lineup until 6 January 2007, against the Colorado Avalanche 2+1⁄2 months later.
On 20 December 2007, Gáborík recorded a six-point game against the New York Rangers with five goals and an assist. This made him the first player in Wild history to score five goals in a game, as well as the first NHLer since Sergei Fedorov of the Detroit Red Wings did so, 11 years earlier (on 26 December 1996, against the Washington Capitals). At mid-season, he was chosen to his second NHL All-Star Game and would go on to record personal bests of 42 goals, 41 assists and 83 points. Gáborík finished his career year as team captain for the Wild in March 2008.
Entering the final year of his contract with the Wild in 2008-09, the Wild began negotiations early to re-sign Gáborík. Gáborík was unable to sign a new contract with the Wild in the 2009 off-season.
New York Rangers (2009-2013)
Leading up to the free agency period, Gáborík was speculated to have interest in signing with the Vancouver Canucks after The Province reported he had recently bought a home in West Vancouver in the 2009 off-season. Nevertheless, Gáborík signed as an unrestricted free agent with the New York Rangers on the first day of free agency on 1 July 2009.
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Gáborík got off to a quick start with his new club, scoring 10 goals in his first 12 games. Nearly a month into the season, he suffered a knee injury after colliding with former Ranger Petr Průcha in a game against the Phoenix Coyotes on 26 October 2009. He missed two games, including what would have been his first game back in Minnesota against the Wild. Gáborík was injured for a second time in the season when his right leg was cut by team goaltender Henrik Lundqvist during a team practice on 9 February 2010.
Though the Rangers finished ninth in the East and missed the 2010 playoffs by one point, Gáborík did not disappoint in his first season with the team; he played in 76 games, matching his career high with 42 goals, and 44 assists for a new career high in points with 86. He led the Rangers in all three categories and his 42 goals ranked fifth in the NHL overall (only behind Patrick Marleau, Alexander Ovechkin and the league leader(s) Sidney Crosby and Steven Stamkos, respectively.
Gáborík's second season with the Rangers, in 2010-11, was hampered by injury. Just three games into the season, he suffered a shoulder injury after receiving an illegal boarding hit in a game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The injury caused him to miss nearly a month, and, upon his return, limited his playing style, which relies on his tremendous wrist shot. Perhaps due to lingering effects from his various ailments, Gáborík proved a streaky scorer throughout the season and finished with 22 goals and 26 assists in 62 games, though 12 of those goals came in four games. His best game of the season was on 19 January 2011, when Gáborík scored four goals and an assist in a 7-0 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
For the first time since Gáborík had joined the team, the Rangers narrowly returned to the Stanley Cup playoffs as the eighth seed with a 5-2 win over the rival New Jersey Devils in the final game of the season. Gáborík contributed an assist on the game-winning goal, and a plus-minus rating of +2 during the game. In the first round of the 2011 playoffs against the top-seeded Washington Capitals, the Rangers were defeated in five games.
On 29 January 2012, Gáborík was named the MVP of the 59th NHL All-Star Game in Ottawa. He ended the 2011-12 campaign playing in all 82 contests recorded with 41 goals and 35 assists for 76 points, leading the team in goals and points finishing second on the team in assists. The Rangers as a team finished as the top seed in the Eastern Conference and the Presidents’ Trophy runner-up only behind the Vancouver Canucks. His 41 goals also ranked third in the NHL overall behind Evgeni Malkin’s 50 goals and the league-leading 60 goals by Steven Stamkos, respectively.
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On 3 May, shortly after midnight, Gáborík scored a triple-overtime game winner against the Washington Capitals in game 3 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, giving the Rangers a 2-1 lead in the series, whilst ending one of the longest playoff games in Rangers history. Gáborík and the top-seeded Rangers defeated the seventh-seeded Capitals in seven games before falling in six games in the Eastern Conference Final to the New Jersey Devils.
Columbus Blue Jackets (2013)
After scoring nine goals in 35 games, Gáborík was dealt at the trade deadline on 3 April 2013, along with minor league players Blake Parlett and Steven Delisle, to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for Derick Brassard, Derek Dorsett, John Moore and a sixth-round draft pick. The following night, Gáborík made his debut with the Blue Jackets and immediately made an impact, scoring the game-winning goal and earning an assist in a victory over the Nashville Predators.
Los Angeles Kings (2014-2018)
On 25 June 2014, Gáborík, as a pending free agent, opted to remain with the Kings in signing a seven-year, $34.125 million contract. In the 2014-15 season, Gaborik would put up 27 goals for 47 points point in 69 games with the Kings, including scoring the game winning goal at the 2015 NHL Stadium Series.
Gáborík then scored for Columbus in their opening game of the 2013-14 season, a 4-3 loss to the Calgary Flames. However, he shortly thereafter suffered an injury and missed 17 games to recover from a sprained left knee.
On 27 December 2020, Gáborík's rights were traded along with goaltender Anders Nilsson from Ottawa to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for defenseman Braydon Coburn, forward Cédric Paquette, and a 2022 second-round draft pick.
Marian Gaborik playing for the Los Angeles Kings.
Philanthropy and Legacy
Gáborík has used his success to benefit Slovak ice hockey and player development. In 2005, he opened his ice rink Arena Mariána Gáboríka in his native city of Trenčín at a personal cost of approximately 50 million Slovak koruna. The ice rink provides the opportunity to both learn how to skate as well as play ice hockey for local youth, and also contains both a full fitness center for off-ice conditioning and accommodations so that participants in programs may stay overnight.
“When you’re playing well in New York, it’s amazing,” Gaborik says. But instead, he shows up to his AQ photo shoot without an entourage or a team of handlers. He comes via taxi, impeccably dressed in a custom made suit, a friend in tow just to keep him company. And rather than talking about his achievements on the ice, the ice he wants to talk about is back home in Trenčín, Slovakia.
As a kid, Gaborik would do anything for extra ice time, often playing on the ponds near home once they froze over. His dad would even make ice outside the house by hosing down the ground and letting it freeze overnight.
“When I was growing up,” he says, “kids always had to fight for ice time. Hockey is still my country’s most popular sport by far. My mom and dad would have to get up really early and drive me to the rink. I wanted there to be more rinks so that more kids would have a chance to play and follow their dreams.”
Gaborik’s foundation tries to make it easier on kids and parents by helping them get the equipment, ice time and coaching they need. “When you’re a kid, you grow out of skates pretty quickly,” he says. “It’s tough on parents to have to keep buying new skates, let alone all the other equipment.”
Gaborik’s love for kids has propelled him to get involved here in the US as well. He is part of the campaign “Who do you play for?” organized by the Children’s Cancer Research Fund. A young boy in Minnesota named Jack who was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor when he was three months old inspired Gaborik to become involved.
Now an active preschooler, Jack has formed a bond with Gaborik, a former member of the Minnesota Wild, who makes it a point to visit Jack and his family every time the Rangers play in Minnesota. In the summer, Gaborik will head back home to the kids, many of whom can’t wait for the season to end to get back on the ice with him.
When his playing days are over, Gaborik will likely spent most of his days at the local rink, teaching kids the finer points of the game, or in some instances, how to stay up on their new skates. “It’s fun,” he says, “especially the little kids that can barely stand on their skates. Just to watch them learn so fast, it’s a great feeling.
"ARENA MG represents the fulfilment of one of my dreams. It was in Trenčín where I took my first ice-hockey steps, where I learned the first zigzags and shot my first goals.