After spending this season without a team, Gregory Campbell has accepted his retirement and will join the Columbus Blue Jackets as an assistant player development coach according to Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch. The 33-year old veteran center lost his role with the Blue Jackets last fall, and after refusing a minor-league assignment, would see his contract terminated. It was somewhat surprising that no one took a chance on the veteran, as he’d been a regular in an NHL lineup for more than a decade.
In 803 career games, Campbell scored 116 points but was relied on as a solid defensive presence and contributor to the 2011 Boston Bruins Stanley Cup. His career-high in points came with Florida when he scored 32, also the year he saw the most ice time. Drafted in the third round, he made quite a nice career for himself and has now joined the development team in order to usher in the next wave of Blue Jackets prospects.
Campbell’s father Colin is the Executive Vice President and Director of Hockey Operations for the NHL, and has been with the league in some capacity for nearly twenty years. Though there is no clear path for the younger Campbell to follow in this way, there is surely a future for him in the hockey world somewhere if he wants to stay.