Tomas Hertl's 11-season NHL career with the San Jose Sharks ended when he was traded to the Vegas Golden Knights on March 8, 2024. He left the organization with 484 points (218 goals, 266 assists) in 712 regular-season games that ranked sixth in team history and six seasons left on an eight-year contract he signed March 16, 2022.

Hertl was named to Team Czechia's roster for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026. He became the third-fastest skater to score 40 goals for the Golden Knights during a 3-2 loss to the Florida Panthers on Nov. 10, 2025.

A center with great offensive instincts who can score goals in bunches, Hertl was selected by the Sharks in the first round (No. 17) in the 2012 NHL Draft. He had 12 goals for Slavia Praha in the Czech Extraliga in 2011-12 as an 18-year-old and was named rookie of the year.

Hertl then led Slavia Praha with 18 goals in 2012-13. He played in two IIHF World Junior Championships and one IIHF World Championship for the Czech Republic prior to arriving in San Jose in 2013.

Few players can match Hertl's start in the NHL.

He had an assist in his debut on Oct. 3, 2013 against the Vancouver Canucks, then scored his first two NHL goals, including the game winner, two nights later against the Phoenix Coyotes. In his third NHL game, against the New York Rangers on Oct. 8, Hertl became the fourth-youngest player in League history to score four goals in a game (19 years, 331 days). He also was the first player in Sharks history to score six goals in his first three NHL games and the first NHL player to score seven goals in his first five games since Blair MacDonald of the Edmonton Oilers in 1979-80.

After his hot start, Hertl was slowed when he sustained a knee injury Dec. 19, 2013. He returned in April, in time for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and had a goal and an assist in his postseason debut April 17, 2014, against the Los Angeles Kings in Game 1 of the Western Conference First Round. He followed his first NHL season by representing the Czech Republic in the World Championship, finishing second on the team in goals (three) and tied for third in points (six).

Playing all 82 games in 2014-15, Hertl was tied for second on the Sharks with four game-winning goals and had 31 points (13 goals, 18 assists). Skating mostly on San Jose's top line with Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski, Hertl had his first 20-goal season in 2015-16, finishing with 21 goals (17 in San Jose's last 44 games) and led the Sharks in face-off percentage (56 percent). He had six goals and 11 points in 20 playoff games to help San Jose reach the Stanley Cup Final for the first time.

Injuries limited Hertl to 49 games and 22 points (10 goals, 12 assists) in 2016-17, but he was healthy in 2017-18 and had 46 points (22 goals, 24 assists) in 79 games. His breakthrough season came in 2018-19, when Hertl set NHL career highs in goals (35), assists (39) and points (79), helping San Jose to a second-place finish in the Pacific Division.