Junior After being drafted into the NHL by the Capitals, Neuvirth began a two-year
major junior career in the
Ontario Hockey League (OHL). He began with the
Plymouth Whalers in
2006–07 before being traded on 13 November 2007, to the
Windsor Spitfires, along with defenceman Tom Kane and a fourth-round draft pick in 2009 in exchange for defenceman
Michal Jordán, goaltender
Matt Hackett, a 2008 second-round draft pick and a third-round pick in 2009. After spending less than half a season with the Spitfires, he was traded yet again on 8 January 2008, to the
Oshawa Generals along with Ryan Baldwin for forward
Justin Shugg, goaltender
Jakub Kovář and second-round picks in 2008 and 2011.
Professional Washington Capitals in
January 2012.Neuvirth turned pro in
2008–09 with the
South Carolina Stingrays, the Capitals'
ECHL affiliate. During his short stint with the Stingrays, he was named to the 2009
ECHL All-Star Game for the American Conference. He was called up to the
Hershey Bears of the
American Hockey League (AHL) during the season and, before long, received his first NHL call-up to the Capitals when starting goaltender
Semyon Varlamov was sidelined due to injury. He made his NHL debut on 14 February 2009, against the
Tampa Bay Lightning. Making 31 saves, including a breakaway glove save on
Vincent Lecavalier, Neuvirth backstopped the Capitals to a 5–1 victory for his first NHL win. He then played in his Capitals home debut on 26 February against the
Atlanta Thrashers, recording another win with a 21-save effort. He finished the season appearing in five games total for the Capitals with a 2–1 record and 3.00
goals against average (GAA). After being returned to the Bears, Neuvirth helped his team to the
2009 Calder Cup finals. He recorded a
shutout in Game 3 for the Bears to take a 2–1 series lead against the
Manitoba Moose. Neuvirth then went on with the Hershey Bears to win the 2009
Calder Cup, earning MVP honors after his Game 6 win. Neuvirth went 16–6 in the playoffs and finished the post-season with a 1.92 GAA, topping
Frédéric Cassivi's previous AHL playoff best of 2.10 GAA. After helping the Bears to the back-to-back Calder Cups in 2010, Neuvirth was named the starting goaltender of the Capitals' season opener on 8 October against Atlanta, in which he made 27 saves in a 4–2 loss. Neuvirth went on to beat out Semyon Varlamov for the starting position for the entire season. Despite a solid season as Washington's starter and an adequate playoff performance, Washington demoted Neuvirth to backup goaltender status to make way for
Tomáš Vokoun, trading away incumbent backup Varlamov to the
Colorado Avalanche in the process. Vokoun's run as Washington's starter only lasted one season, however, and he was injured before the playoffs began. Neuvirth was himself also injured, allowing third goaltender
Braden Holtby to start Game 1 of the first round series against the
Boston Bruins. Even though Neuvirth managed to return to health in time for Game 3, Holtby went on to start for the duration of Washington's playoff run in 2012. In the off-season, Vokoun left to take the backup goaltender job with the
Pittsburgh Penguins. Incoming Capitals head coach
Adam Oates then confirmed Holtby as the new starting goaltender of the Washington Capitals during training camp, but failed to rule out Neuvirth reclaiming the starter's role if he were to outplay Holtby.
Buffalo Sabres On 5 March 2014, Neuvirth was traded by the Capitals, along with defenceman
Rostislav Klesla, to the
Buffalo Sabres in exchange for goaltender
Jaroslav Halák and a third round pick. Neuvirth closed out the season with an (0-2-0) record. The next season, Neuvirth posted a record of (6-17-3).
New York Islanders Almost one year later, on 2 March 2015, Neuvirth was traded by the Sabres to the
New York Islanders in exchange for
Chad Johnson and a
2016 third-round draft pick. Neuvirth recorded a (1-3-1) record with the Islanders.
Philadelphia Flyers On 1 July 2015, Neuvirth signed a two-year contract as a free agent with the Philadelphia Flyers, to serve as a backup to
Steve Mason. On 1 April 2017, Neuvirth suddenly collapsed on the ice during a game against the
New Jersey Devils while there was a stoppage in play at 7:37 of the first period. He was rushed to a nearby hospital after being taken off the ice on a stretcher. Backup goaltender
Anthony Stolarz replaced Neuvirth for the rest of the game, which the Flyers won 3–0. The Flyers announced the next afternoon he had been released from the hospital and all tests were normal.
Later years After four seasons under contract with the Flyers, Neuvirth left as a free agent following an injury-plagued
2018–19 season. Unable to secure an NHL contract, Neuvirth agreed to an invitation to attend the
Toronto Maple Leafs' training camp on a
professional tryout (PTO) contract on 22 July 2019. On 24 September, Toronto released Neuvirth from his PTO contract. As a free agent, Neuvirth sat out the majority of the season before signing a one-year contract in returning to the Czech Republic for the remainder of the year with hometown club, HC Sparta Praha of the ELH, on 23 January 2020. Neuvirth was unable to make any appearances with the club despite being contracted with Sparta over the next two seasons due to lingering injury problems. ==Records==