On 12 June 2002, Handzuš was traded along with Robert Esche to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for Brian Boucher and a third-round draft pick.[6] On 5 December 2002, he became only the second player in NHL history to score a penalty shot goal in overtime. In the 2003–04 season, he finished second on the Flyers with 58 points and later signed a three-year contract extension with Philadelphia during the ensuing off-season.[7] During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, he played for the HKm Zvolen, which reached the playoff finals in the Slovak Extraliga.[citation needed]
On 2 July 2007, Handzuš signed a four-year, $16 million contract with the Los Angeles Kings.[9]
On 1 July 2011, Handzuš signed a two-year, $5 million contract with the San Jose Sharks.[10] During the lockout-shortened 2012–13 season, on 1 April 2013, Handzuš was traded back to Chicago in exchange for a fourth-round draft pick.[11]
On 28 May 2014, with the Blackhawks facing elimination in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals, Handzuš scored a game-winning goal in double-overtime against Los Angeles Kings, the eventual Stanley Cup champions. On 16 June, after the Blackhawks had been eliminated from playoff contention, the team announced that they would not be re-signing Handzuš after the season. He subsequently became an unrestricted free agent on 1 July.[12]
Management career
Post-playing career, Handzuš joined the leadership of the Slovak Ice Hockey Federation, but resigned in September 2022 after the organization chose to continue allowing national team members to play in the KHL despite the ongoing 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine saying, "It is a fundamental value issue for me, and that is why I cannot imagine my further work in this direction of the organization,” in a statement posted to Twitter.[13]
