Pekka Rinne Announces Retirement
As it turns out, Pekka Rinne won’t be playing for another franchise after all. The legendary Nashville Predators goaltender has decided to hang up his pads, announcing retirement after 15 years. Rinne explained his decision in a long letter to the fans of Nashville, thanking some of the players that have meant the most to him over the years.
Rinne, 38, stands alone at the top of the mountain for the Predators, holding basically every franchise record that a goaltender can. He is the team leader in games (683), starts (667), wins (369), shutouts (60), goals-against average (2.43) and saves (17,627). He also leads all Finnish goaltenders in games, starts, wins and shutouts. Those 369 wins tie him for 19th all-time with Tom Barrasso, though he’ll likely be passed by Carey Price next season. He won the Vezina Trophy in 2018 and was a finalist three other times. He took home the King Clancy trophy this season.
Selected in the eighth round in 2004, Rinne’s is one of the best draft stories in history. Originally eligible in 2001, he was passed over three times before the Predators took a chance on him at 258th overall. Janne Kekalainen, the team’s European scout, saw Rinne playing as a backup for Niklas Backstrom in Finland, and convinced GM David Poile to spend a late pick on the overager.
Rinne was a pending unrestricted free agent this summer, and though he indicated at the end of the season he might be interested in playing, even if it meant suiting up for another franchise, he’ll finish his career playing for only Nashville. The team now turns to Vezina candidate Juuse Saros while also having top prospect Yaroslav Askarov in the pipeline after spending the 11th overall pick on him in 2020.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Sergei Mozyakin Announces Retirement
One of the greatest players to never try his hand at the NHL is hanging up his skates. Sergei Mozyakin, among the most decorated Russian players of all time, has retired at the age of 40.
Name an award in the KHL, personal or team-based, and Mozyakin has likely won it. The legendary forward is the league’s all-time leader in goals, points and games played, has two Gagarin Cup championships, and has been named league MVP four times. He has Olympic gold, World Championship gold and several other medals on the international stage, sometimes serving as captain of the Russian team.
In fact, it is not quite accurate that he never tried to play in North America. Selected 58th overall in the 1998 CHL Import Draft, Mozyakin left his club team in Russia and was going to follow the same junior route many other talented international players did, playing in Canada. After just four games with the Val-d’Or Foreurs though, a contract dispute landed him back in Russia, never to leave again. He registered one assist for the Foreurs, his only point while playing for a North American club.
Somewhat hilariously, Mozyakin’s NHL draft rights were still owned by the Columbus Blue Jackets, who selected him 263rd overall in 2002. Because the KHL and NHL do not have a transfer agreement, those rights were carried indefinitely.
In 842 combined regular season and playoff games in the KHL, Mozyakin scored 419 goals and 928 points. He has served as captain for Metallurg Magnitogorsk for nearly a decade and had 21 points in 38 games this season. Even though his regular season totals were depressed, the old Mozyakin showed up one last time in the postseason, scoring 10 points in 11 games.
It’s not clear if Mozyakin ever would have found success in the NHL, but perhaps the decision to stay in Russia was the right one anyway. He will now go into retirement as one of the greatest to ever play in that league.
Beau Bennett Announces Retirement
Free agent winger Beau Bennett has decided to call it a career, announcing (Twitter link) that he has retired. The 29-year-old didn’t play this season and in his announcement, he cited injuries as a reason for the decision.
Bennett spent parts of six seasons in the NHL after being a first-round pick of the Penguins (20th overall) back in 2010. While he showed some flashes of offensive upside over 129 games with Pittsburgh, he was never able to lock down a full-time roster spot and eventually was moved to New Jersey in 2016. He had a career year with the Devils that season but was still non-tendered, eventually signing with the Blues as a free agent but spent most of 2017-18 in the minors. Bennett was last on an NHL contract in 2019-20 with Arizona but despite finishing fourth in scoring with AHL Tucson, he didn’t get an opportunity with the Coyotes.
In the end, Bennett wound up with 200 career NHL games played, tallying 20 goals and 44 assists. While that’s not a great return from a first-round selection, there were eight others taken in the first round that have less NHL experience than he does and he sits 22nd in scoring among first-round picks from that draft class. Instead of attempting a comeback to try to add to his point total, he’s moving on from playing and will now work with amateur and youth hockey players.
Snapshots: Golden Knights, Laich, Richardson
The Vegas Golden Knights were defeated last night by the Montreal Canadiens, giving them more frustrating memories of coming close but not reaching the top of the mountain. It’s been an incredible run for an expansion franchise, winning multiple playoff rounds in three of their four seasons in existence. But they still haven’t managed to win it all, meaning there will be changes once again this summer. On the 31 Thoughts podcast, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet notes that this team has never been afraid to go after the big fish.
Not specifically about [Jack] Eichel, but they’ll be in on anyone that can help them. That’s the way they are, it’s their DNA. The surest predictor of future behavior is past behavior, and those guys go after the big fish. No matter who they’ve got. No matter who they’ve got, they go after the big fish.
Vegas made enough cap space to fit in Alex Pietrangelo last summer when the defenseman became available, but they’ll have to do it again if they want to add this year. Friedman and co-host Jeff Marek discussed the future of Marc-Andre Fleury, suggesting that moving his $7MM contract is the best opportunity for cap savings, while also noting that Alec Martinez is likely to be replaced in the lineup by Nicolas Hague full-time. The Golden Knights will be an interesting team to watch over the coming weeks as they deal with another heartbreaking loss.
- Though he hasn’t played an NHL game since the 2017-18 season, Brooks Laich is only just now announcing his official retirement. The 38-year-old forward last played for the Los Angeles Kings, but is far better known for his time with the Washington Capitals which included three consecutive 20+ goal seasons. Laich competed for Team Canada at the World Juniors and World Championships and will officially hang up his skates with 776 regular season games played in the NHL.
- One of the most impressive parts of the Canadiens’ series victory is that they did it without head coach Dominique Ducharme as he deals with a positive COVID test. Luke Richardson has taken over the head coaching duties in the meantime, and Darren Dreger of TSN explains how teams around the league may be keeping an eye on the former NHL defenseman. Of course, this isn’t the first time Richardson has held a head coaching role. For four seasons he led the Binghamton Senators of the AHL, and in 2017 he led the Canadian roster to a victory in the Spengler Cup. A one-time captain with the Columbus Blue Jackets, Richardson’s name will likely come up in connection to NHL head coaching vacancies.
Carl Gunnarsson Announces Retirement
He may have not been the biggest name, play the most important role or score many goals, but Carl Gunnarsson will always be a Stanley Cup champion. The veteran defenseman announced his retirement today, penning a letter to hockey titled “Goodbye to the game I love.” He was scheduled for unrestricted free agency this summer at the end of his latest two-year, $3.5MM contract.
Gunnarsson, 34, will likely be remembered best for his game-winning goal against the Boston Bruins during the 2019 Stanley Cup Final. The defenseman, who had never before scored a playoff goal, apparently predicted the overtime winner while standing next to his coach at the urinal during intermission. Gunnarsson said he needed just “one more chance” and he got it on a delayed penalty just four minutes into the period. A blast from the point beat Tuukka Rask to even the series at one, a moment that will keep the defensive defenseman in St. Louis lore.
There were only 30 other goals in his career, which included more than 300 regular season games for both the Blues and the Toronto Maple Leafs. The seventh-round, 194th-overall pick made quite a name for himself over the years, but will now hang up his skates and transition to the next part of his life.
JT Brown Retires, Joins Seattle Kraken Broadcast Team
The Seattle Kraken are going with a rookie as the broadcast partner for John Forslund, hiring JT Brown as a television analyst for 2021-22. The announcement comes alongside the official retirement for Brown, who spent the 2020-21 season in Sweden playing for IF Bjorkloven.
Brown, 30, suited up more than 400 times in the NHL, scoring 72 points in 365 career regular season games. Before that, he won the NCAA Championship as a member of the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs and once represented the U.S. at the World Championship. Undrafted, he turned heads in the USHL and college ranks, before quickly stepping into the NHL with the Tampa Bay Lightning. He registered a career-high of 22 points in 2015-16.
Speaking to Forslund, Brown explained why he chose now to take the next step in his hockey career:
It’s definitely different and an exciting new chapter. Moving on from playing is a little bit of everything [in terms of emotion]. You think you will play until your legs fall off. But I had started thinking long-term-what was my next play?
Meeting the people with the team, seeing the city itself, it felt like a place we could call home. That solidified it for us. Seattle is amazing.
During the 2019-20 season, his last in North America, Brown scored nine goals and 22 points for the Iowa Wild of the AHL. A career defined by hard work and determination will now take him into the booth, where he’ll have to start all over again.
Zach Trotman Announces His Retirement
Penguins defenseman Zach Trotman has decided to call it a career and has announced his retirement, per an announcement on his Instagram page. He was set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.
The 30-year-old spent the past four seasons with Pittsburgh in a depth role, seeing NHL action in his first three seasons with the team. However, injuries (including a torn meniscus in training camp) limited him to just eight appearances with AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in 2020-21 and in Trotman’s announcement, he cited injuries as the reason for him hanging up his skates.
Trotman had a good career for someone that was drafted at the back of the seventh round in 2010 (210th overall) by Boston, playing under an NHL contract for nine seasons while making a little over $3.5MM in the process, per CapFriendly. He ends his playing days with 91 career games played at the top level where he had 13 points while averaging just under 17 minutes a game in playing time.
Snapshots: Shore, Ward, Nelson
It’s the end of the road for journeyman forward Drew Shore, who announced his retirement today on Instagram. The 30-year-old forward was originally selected by the Florida Panthers in the second round of the 2009 draft and bounced around the hockey world over the last decade. Starting at the University of Denver, Shore became a collegiate star, while also helping the U.S. secure a bronze medal at the World Juniors. Upon signing with Florida he became an NHL regular, playing 43 games in his first season.
Unfortunately, that would be the highest total of his career, as Shore then bounced around the minor leagues and took his talents overseas in 2016. He has since played in Switzerland, China, Russia, Slovakia and Belarus, but most recently signed with the Carolina Hurricanes. He played four NHL games this season but was held scoreless and will now hang up his skates. In 98 career NHL games, Shore recorded 26 points.
- Geoff Ward, who was let go by the Calgary Flames earlier this season, will now be joining the Anaheim Ducks as an assistant coach. Darren Dreger of TSN reports that Ward will join Dallas Eakins staff for next season after the team had previously shown interest in new Flames associate coach Kirk Muller. The 59-year-old Ward ended up behind the bench for just 66 games in Calgary, taking over for the outgoing Bill Peters in 2019 and then replaced by Darryl Sutter earlier this year. In those games, he posted a 35-26-5 record and actually got Calgary through the qualification round in the bubble, only to fall to the Dallas Stars in six games. Update: The Ducks have confirmed the hire along with the addition of Mike Stothers to their coaching staff.
- The Arizona Coyotes will have Todd Nelson in for a second interview tomorrow, according to Craig Morgan of AZ Coyotes Insider. Nelson is one of many candidates the Coyotes are looking at and hasn’t been an NHL head coach since his one partial season in Edmonton. The 52-year-old is a well-respected assistant that has spent the last three seasons with the Dallas Stars however and has plenty of experience as head coach in the AHL. Morgan notes that the timeline for a hire in Arizona isn’t clear, though something should be done before the draft.
Stephen Johns Announces His Retirement
It has been a tough past few years for Stars defenseman Stephen Johns as he has battled post-concussion symptoms which limited him to just 17 games over the past three seasons. He has attempted to come back a few times in that stretch but has decided to call it a career, announcing his retirement on social media.
The 29-year-old was a second-round pick (60th overall) back in 2010 to Chicago but didn’t get his first NHL opportunity until he was traded to Dallas back in the 2015 offseason. He made his NHL debut the following season and then became more of a regular in 2016-17, playing in 61 games that year and 75 the following campaign, becoming a reliable shutdown defender that played with plenty of physicality. That helped earn him a well-deserved three-year, $7.05MM extension in 2018 as the Stars appeared to lock up a key defensive presence on their back end.
However, a late-season concussion in 2018 led to post-concussion symptoms that cost him all of 2018-19 and most of 2019-20. He was able to come back late in the year, suiting up in 17 games while logging over 17 minutes a night. He even got into the first four games in the bubble before the symptoms returned and unfortunately, they kept him out for all of this season as well.
With his contract coming to an end, Johns has decided to hang up his skates, sort of. While he won’t be skating on the ice anymore, he will be doing a rollerblading tour across the country. PHR joins the hockey community in wishing Johns the best of luck in his next adventure.
Minor Transactions: 06/08/21
Is this the calm before the storm? It’s been eerily quiet of late in terms of off-season moves, but with the entry draft order all but set following the lottery and soon just four teams left alive in the playoffs, not to mention the NHL Expansion Draft just six weeks away, the trade market seems primed to explode. While we wait, here are some of the notable minor moves being made:
- Veteran net minder Viktor Fasth has announced his retirement. The 38-year-old Swede has been playing at home in the SHL for the past four years and was in the KHL before that ever since departing the NHL in 2015. The former Anaheim Ducks and Edmonton Oilers goalie burned bright, but burned up fast in North America. He was a breakout star in 2012-13 and continued his strong play into the next season despite a mid-year trade. Yet, his play fell off immensely in his first (and only) full season with Edmonton in 2014-15 and he left the league for good. Burnout hasn’t been a problem for Fasth since then. Even at his advanced age, he has continued to put up elite numbers in Europe, including a .934 save percentage and 1.79 GAA for the Vaxjo Lakers this season in 31 games, arguably the best season of his career. Fasth has decided to go out on top rather than try his luck heading into his forties next year.
- The Pittsburgh Penguins are happy with the play of first year pro Felix Robert in the minors this season and have signed him to a one-year AHL contract extension. Robert, a QMJHL scoring phenom in 2019-20, adjusted well to the pro level despite his small stature. He recorded 13 points in 27 games with AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and added six points in ten ECHL games as well.
- Former Arizona Coyotes prospect Erik Walli Waterholm will be staying in Sweden a while longer. Walli Waterholm opted not to sign with the ‘Yotes earlier this month, letting his NHL Draft rights expire. The forward has not developed as expected since he was selected in 2017, but this was his best pro season in 2020-21 as he recorded 14 points in 44 games. Timra IK certainly believes he has room to improve as well, announcing that they have signed Walli Waterholm to a two-year extension. If he continues to grow, the 22-year-old could still one day be on an NHL radar.
- With his third and final go-round in the NHL Draft around the corner, goaltender Samuel Hlavaj has taken the next step in his career and is hoping that maybe it will change his draft fortunes. Hlavaj is taking his talents to Slovakia, but isn’t just joining any team. Instead, he has signed with the league’s top club, HC Slovan Bratislava, where he will learn behind former NHL keeper Kristers Gudlevskis. The No. 5-ranked goalie in Europe according to NHL Central Scouting in his first draft year in 2019, Hlavaj was widely expected to be drafted, but wasn’t. He was however taken in the first round of the CHL Import Draft by the Sherbrooke Phoenix and was stellar in his first season with the club last year. Again, he was passed over in the draft. The third time is usually not the charm for most draft prospects, but perhaps Hlavaj’s status on a top European team behind a former NHL commodity will change some minds. A goalie with size and the stats to back him up, Hlavaj is just looking for a chance to show he has pro potential.