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Jets’ Prospect Chaz Lucius Announces Retirement

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In an unfortunate announcement from Newport Sports Management Inc., Winnipeg Jets’ prospect Chaz Lucius is retiring from hockey due to medical concerns.

The announcement shared a statement from Chaz, where he openly shared his recent Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome diagnosis. In the statement, Chaz wrote,

“It is with great disappointment that I am announcing my retirement from playing professional hockey. Recently, I was diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) which is a hereditary disorder that affects the connective tissue that stabilizes and supports the joints and organs throughout the body. As I struggled with incurring and recovering from various joint injuries over the past several years, I had thought I was just unlucky. With this diagnosis of EDS, I now realize that my body impacted by EDS could not handle the physical nature of playing hockey. Given this condition, my injury history, and the physical nature of hockey, I have been medically advised not to continue to play.“

In response, the Jets put out an immediate press release saying,

“After much discussion and consultation with Chaz, his representatives, and medical professionals, the Winnipeg Jets Hockey Club fully supports his difficult decision to retire. Chaz’s condition and struggles with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) put him at risk of injury if he continues to play at the professional level, so we understand his choice. We wish Chaz all the best in his efforts to be an advocate for those dealing with EDS and hope for a bright future in front of him.“

Winnipeg selected Lucius with the 18th overall selection of the 2021 NHL Draft after an impressive few years with the United States National Team Development Program (USNTD). During his draft season, Lucius scored 13 goals and 18 points in 12 games playing for the USHL’s USNTD program and another 13 goals and 20 points in 13 games with the U.S. National U18 team.

He spent one year with the heralded University of Minnesota, scoring nine goals and 19 points in 24 contests with a +5 rating. Unfortunately, the Golden Gophers were eliminated in the Regional Finals of the National Tournament to in-state rival, Minnesota State University.

That was the end of Lucius’s time as a top prospect with Winnipeg. As he alluded to in his statement, Lucius has suffered a string of injuries over the last several years that have limited him to only 54 contests with the AHL’s Manitoba Moose since the 2022-23 season. Still, when healthy, Lucius was an effective secondary scorer, managing seven goals and 27 points.

There should understandably be some grace for Lucius when it comes to his inability to stay healthy during that stretch. Had he remained healthy throughout his professional career, the generic wear-and-tear that comes with professional ice hockey could have led to some long-standing physical issues when it comes to Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome.

Although it’s not the path he likely envisioned for himself, we at PHR send our congratulations to Lucius for being one of the rare few able to play even one game of professional hockey in North America and wish him the best for his next chapter.

Ilya Kovalchuk Announces Retirement

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Longtime NHL winger Ilya Kovalchuk has officially confirmed the end of his playing career, per Hockey News Hub on X.

Now 41, Kovalchuk is one of the most decorated wingers of the 21st century – even if his NHL career saw more than a few twists and turns. A dominant teenager with Spartak Moscow, then of the second-tier Russian league at the turn of the century, he was the first overall pick by the Thrashers in the 2001 draft.

Kovalchuk was the centerpiece of the fledgling Atlanta squad for seven and a half seasons, finishing second in Calder Trophy voting in his rookie year behind teammate Dany Heatley but capturing the league’s goal-scoring title with 41 in the 2003-04 campaign. He remained one of the league’s premier goal-scorers past the 2005 lockout, eclipsing the 50-goal mark twice with the Thrashers, although his throne as the league’s top left-wing sniper was quickly taken from him by countryman Alex Ovechkin.

In 2009-10, amid his sixth consecutive 40-goal campaign, the Thrashers dealt Kovalchuk to the Devils for what turned out to be an incredibly underwhelming return in retrospect – although they did flip the first-round pick they received in the deal to the Blackhawks to acquire longtime top-pair defenseman Dustin Byfuglien, even if those rewards were reaped after the franchise relocated to Winnipeg to become the second iteration of the Jets.

Of course, Kovalchuk’s time in New Jersey was incredibly tumultuous. Set to be a UFA in the summer of 2010, he returned to New Jersey on a record-breaking 17-year, $102MM contract that was quickly invalidated by the league for being too frontloaded. While the Devils and Kovalchuk agreed to a revised 15-year, $100MM deal, they were stripped of a first and third-round pick and were fined $3MM by the league.

After all that, Kovalchuk only played three seasons of the deal before abruptly retiring from the NHL, leaving $77MM in cash on the table to terminate his deal and return home. He played six seasons with SKA St. Petersburg of the Kontinental Hockey League, including a stint during the 2013 lockout. He was unsurprisingly the KHL’s premier offensive talent during that timeframe, posting 138-189–327 in 298 games with SKA, winning the Gagarin Cup in 2015 and 2017 and scoring the championship-clinching goal both times.

Upon leading the KHL in scoring in 2017-18 with 63 points in 53 games and winning an Olympic MVP and Gold Medal, Kovalchuk opted to make an NHL comeback and landed a hefty three-year, $18.75MM deal with the Kings. Then in his mid-30s, he underwhelmed in L.A. and managed just 43 points in 81 games over a season and a half before he again opted to walk away from the money remaining on his deal midway through the 2019-20 campaign. He finished out that season with the Canadiens and Capitals – the former signed him to a one-year deal following his termination and flipped him to Washington at the deadline. After amassing 10-16–26 in 46 games split between the three clubs, Kovalchuk headed back to Russia with Avangard Omsk.

“Kovy” finished the shortened 2020-21 season with 17 points in 16 games for Avangard en route to a third Gagarin Cup championship. He stepped away into an off-ice role after that, even serving as Russia’s general manager at the 2022 Winter Olympics, but returned to the sheet where his career began with Spartak last season. He notched 4-4–8 in 20 games and went pointless in five playoff games before opting not to re-sign last summer.

Kovalchuk played 13 NHL seasons, posting a 443-433–876 scoring line in 926 games with a -146 rating. He averaged a remarkable 21:15 per game throughout his career, including a few seasons north of 24 with the Devils. For his first NHL stint from 2001 to 2013, no one scored more than Kovalchuk’s 417 goals. He remained the Jets’ franchise all-time goals leader until Mark Scheifele finally surpassed him last month.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Loui Eriksson Officially Announces Retirement

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Former NHL forward Loui Eriksson has officially announced his retirement after 16 NHL seasons (via his agency on Instagram).

Eriksson last played in the NHL during the 2021-22 season with the Arizona Coyotes, posting three goals and 16 assists in 73 games. His final professional season came in 2022-23 when he suited up for Frölunda HC of the Swedish Hockey League.

At his best, Eriksson was a reliable 25+ goal and 70-point forward for the Dallas Stars. However, the Gothenburg, Sweden native fell on hard times after signing a massive free agent deal with the Vancouver Canucks in 2016 and was never able to get back to the numbers he posted in Dallas.

The 39-year-old was a staple of the Stars in the late 2000s and early 2010s before he was the central piece in the blockbuster trade that sent Tyler Seguin to Dallas and Eriksson to Boston. With the Bruins, Eriksson struggled in his first season but regained his form two years later when he posted 30 goals and 33 assists in 82 games and cashed in with the Canucks on a six-year $36MM deal.

In Vancouver, Eriksson became a beacon for criticism during the Jim Benning era, particularly in 2020 when the salary cap flattened out and the Canucks were forced to watch several talented players leave via free agency when they didn’t have cap space to sign them. Eriksson scored just 38 goals and 52 assists in 252 games with the Canucks before he was sent to Arizona as part of a package that was used to acquire Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Conor Garland.

Eriksson finished his NHL career with 253 goals and 360 assists in 1,050 career NHL games. He was a six-time 20-goal scorer and had the best season of his career in 2010-11 with Dallas when he registered 27 goals and 46 assists in 79 games.

All of us at PHR extend our best wishes to Loui as he enters the next chapter of his life.

Alex Chiasson Announces Retirement

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A long-time middle-six scorer is officially hanging up his skates. Originally announced by himself and then shared by the National Hockey League Players’ Association, Alex Chiasson is retiring after spending a few years off the ice.

The Dallas Stars drafted Chiasson with the 38th overall pick of the 2009 NHL Draft out of the USHL’s Des Moines Buccaneers program. Instead of immediately turning professional, Chiasson joined the Boston University Terriers for the 2009-10 NCAA season one year after they won the National Championship. Unfortunately, Chiasson would fail to reach the Frozen Four throughout his three-year tenure with Boston University.

He still became an effective playmaker at the collegiate level. He finished his NCAA career with 36 goals and 99 points in 108 games before signing his entry-level contract after the 2011-12 campaign. Chiasson started quickly with the AHL’s Texas Stars, scoring one goal and five points in nine contests.

Much of the next calendar year was spent in AHL Texas until Dallas recalled Chiasson in early April of the 2012-13 season to debut in the NHL. After scoring six goals and seven points in seven games to end the regular season, Chiasson became an NHL regular for the next decade.

Chiasson scored 13 goals and 35 points in 79 games during his official rookie season, which would be his last with the Stars. The following summer, he was acquired by the Ottawa Senators organization as a part of the return package for franchise icon Jason Spezza.

Although he became one of the better players from the trade for Spezza, his time in Canada’s capital was mostly disappointing. He finished his tenure in Ottawa with 19 goals and 40 points in 153 games before arduous contract negotiations led to a trade to the Calgary Flames in the summer of 2016.

After a solid year as a depth scorer for the Flames, Chiasson signed with the Washington Capitals for the 2017-18 season. He won his first and only Stanley Cup that year, scoring one goal and one assist in 16 playoff games for the Capitals.

It wasn’t until he joined the Edmonton Oilers that Chiasson experienced the most personal success of his career. During his time with the Oilers, Chiasson scored 42 goals and 78 points in 183 games, including a 22-goal campaign in the 2018-19 season.

Chiasson’s final game came on April 13, 2023, as a member of the Detroit Red Wings one year after spending the season with the Vancouver Canucks. He ended his career with 120 goals and 233 points in 651 games with another four goals and seven points in 37 postseason contests.

All of us at PHR extend our best wishes to Alex as he enters the next chapter of his life.

Blake Wheeler Unlikely To Resume NHL Career

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Winger Blake Wheeler has all but officially decided on retirement, as Paul Friesen of The Winnipeg Sun relays. Neither Wheeler nor the NHL Players’ Association has released a statement. Still, the former Jets captain told Dan Leffelaar of the Beyond High Performance podcast earlier this week that “there’s only so much gas in the tank” emotionally for an 82-game regular season.

In July, Wheeler, 38, hit unrestricted free agency after completing a one-year, $1.1MM contract with the Rangers. He joined the Blueshirts for the final season of his NHL career after having the captaincy stripped from him in Winnipeg in 2022 and seeing the final season of his five-year, $41.25MM contract with an $8.25MM cap hit bought out a year later. There wasn’t much buzz around his services on the UFA market aside from a report in August from Shawn Hutcheon of The Fourth Period that the Bruins were considering extending him a professional tryout. One way or another that never came to fruition, and Wheeler didn’t appear with any club during training camp.

A serious leg injury sustained in February ended his final regular season prematurely. However, he did return to the active roster near the end of New York’s second-round playoff win over the Hurricanes. He was a frequent healthy scratch upon returning to the lineup, though, with a lone postseason appearance against the Panthers in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final likely standing as his final NHL appearance. In 54 regular-season appearances with the Rangers, he posted nine goals and 12 assists for 21 points with a +2 rating while averaging a career-low 12:43 per game.

Wheeler was a highly touted prospect. In the 2004 draft, the Coyotes selected him fifth overall, immediately after eventual longtime teammate Andrew Ladd was taken off the board by the Hurricanes. However, he opted not to sign in Phoenix. He took the long route through college at the University of Minnesota before becoming a free agent in 2008 and signing with the Bruins. 

The right-winger’s debut season was solid, posting 21 goals and 45 points with a +36 rating in 81 games as Boston won 53 games and finished atop the Eastern Conference. He was one of many future under-25 impact players on that Bruins squad, featuring Patrice Bergeron, Milan Lucic, Phil Kessel and David Krejčí in the infancies of their careers. However, after his goal-scoring dropped off slightly in his second and third years in the league, Boston traded him to the Thrashers before the 2011 deadline for Rich Peverley.

Wheeler racked up 17 points in 23 games down the stretch for Atlanta, giving Thrashers fans a bittersweet taste of things to come for his production before the team packed up and moved to Winnipeg in the offseason. Now entirely in the prime of his career at age 25, Wheeler kicked off a dominant nine-year stretch in Winnipeg that saw him record 569 points in 616 games, ranking eighth in the NHL scoring between the 2011-12 and 2018-19 campaigns. His 384 assists during that time were fourth, trailing only Nicklas Bäckström, Sidney Crosby and Claude Giroux. He received All-Star consideration eight years in a row and finished as high as eighth in Hart Trophy voting in 2017-18 when he led the league with 68 assists in 81 outings.

After a 20-goal, 91-point showing in 2018-19, 2019-20 spelled out the beginning of Wheeler’s decline. He still managed a respectable 65 points in 71 games that year before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. However, that was accompanied by an artificially high 12.2% shooting rate and a significant drop-off in his assist totals. He kept up reasonable offensive production in his final three seasons in Winnipeg, logging 161 points in 187 games. But the Minnesota native became a defensive liability as he aged and became a significant drag on the Jets’ possession quality control at even strength. Combined with just three playoff series wins during his time in Winnipeg, including a run to the 2018 Western Conference Final in which he had 21 points in 17 games, the Jets parted ways with their captain and bought him out.

While the end of Wheeler’s career may have been marred by declining all-around play and injuries, the former All-Star was a high-end top-line talent throughout the 2010s. The 6’5 “, 225-lb right-winger puts a bow on his career with 321 goals and 622 assists for 943 points in 1,172 regular-season games. He logged a +67 rating, posted 764 PIMs, and racked up nearly 3,000 career shots on goal, averaging 18:11 per game. He pairs that strong regular-season production with 10 goals and 45 points in 66 career postseason games. Pro Hockey Rumors congratulates Wheeler on a phenomenal career.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Justin Schultz Announces Retirement

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Right-shot defenseman Justin Schultz has terminated his contract with Switzerland’s HC Lugano and “ended his career with immediate effect for strictly personal reasons,” the club said in a statement Friday.

“Mine is a strictly personal choice,” Schultz said through the team. “I discussed it with my family, and I made the decision to end my career here and return to Canada. I thank Hockey Club Lugano for the professionalism shown and for respecting my choice, and I wish the club and the team to find the path to success again.”

Schultz, now 34, had signed with Lugano in late October after not landing any NHL offers as an unrestricted free agent over the summer. Before retiring, he made eight appearances for the National League club, posting six assists and a -3 rating.

The British Columbia native was selected by the Ducks in the second round of the 2008 draft out of the British Columbia Hockey League’s Westside Warriors. He played one more season of junior ’A’ before jumping to the University of Wisconsin, where he racked up 113 points in 121 games in three seasons, twice being named to the NCAA West First All-American Team. But coming out of school in the 2012 offseason, he didn’t come to an agreement with Anaheim on an entry-level contract and instead landed one with the Oilers after reaching free agency.

Schultz got some AHL action at the beginning of the 2012-13 campaign due to the lockout that cost the league nearly half the season. However, after posting 48 points in just 34 games, he was named to Edmonton’s opening night roster and never touched minor-league ice again. The offensively gifted yet defensively challenged Schultz spent parts of four seasons in Alberta, logging top-four minutes on a rebuilding Oilers defense. After posting 101 points in 248 games, logging a -78 rating and averaging north of 22 minutes per game, Edmonton shipped him east to the Penguins before the 2016 trade deadline.

Schultz flourished in Pittsburgh, winning two Stanley Cup rings in his first two seasons with the franchise. He was used sparingly in their 2016 run to the championship, averaging 14:14 per game down the stretch and even less than that in the playoffs. But in 2016-17, his first entire season in Pennsylvania, he erupted for a career-high 12 goals, 39 assists, 51 points, and a +27 rating in 78 regular-season appearances, gaining additional ice time with No. 1 option Kris Letang missing half the season with injuries. He finished 10th in Norris Trophy voting and kept the momentum rolling in the playoffs, quarterbacking the team’s top power-play unit and leading their blue line in scoring with 13 points in 21 contests as the Penguins became the first team since the Red Wings in 1997 and 1998.

The 6’2″ righty continued to be a serviceable top-four option with the Pens over the next few years, but his point pace and defensive play both began to falter as time passed. A lower left-leg fracture cost him most of the 2018-19 campaign, and after more lower-body injuries limited him to 12 points in 46 games the following year, Pittsburgh let him hit unrestricted free agency.

Schultz landed a two-year, $8MM pact with the rival Capitals. His tenure in D.C. was solid but unremarkable, totaling 50 points in 120 games with a -3 rating. By the end of his two-year deal, he’d firmly established himself as a power-play specialist, averaging a career-low 16:55 per game in his second season.

Once again a free agent, Schultz opted to join the second-year Kraken on a two-year, $6MM deal. In year one, he recorded 34 points in 73 games – his highest total since his career-best 2016-17 campaign – and helped Seattle to its first playoff appearance in franchise history. Once again, he carried his upward momentum into the postseason, tying for third on the Kraken with 10 points in 14 games as they advanced to Game 7 of the Second Round.

Schultz saw his ice time further reduced to a new career-low 16:28 in Seattle last season, posting 26 points in 70 games – 10 of which came on the power play. His -23 rating ranked last on the team, although the Kraken still largely controlled the quality of possession while he was on the ice at even strength. Nonetheless, no team viewed him as an everyday option anymore, and he ended up making a brief go of things in Switzerland after not landing an NHL contract or tryout.

He ends his 12-year NHL career with 71 goals, 253 assists, 324 points, and a -57 rating in 745 games. Seventeen of his career goals – nearly 24% – were game-winners. We at PHR congratulate him on a lengthy career and wish him the best in all his future endeavors.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Kevin Shattenkirk Announces Retirement

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Unrestricted free agent defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk has announced his retirement after 14 NHL seasons and 952 regular-season games, per an NHLPA release. The 35-year-old wrote a lengthy message to his seven NHL teams, their staffs, and his family, and shouted out many other specific helpers and mentors, one you can read entirely on his X account.

The 6’0″, 212-lb Shattenkirk made his NHL debut four seasons after being drafted 14th overall by the Avalanche in 2007, but the Boston University product didn’t last long in a Colorado uniform. After recording seven goals and 26 points in his first 46 NHL games for the Avs, they dealt him to the Blues in a blockbuster trade before the 2011 deadline that saw former first-overall pick Erik Johnson head the other way.

By the time the 2011-12 season rolled around, he’d established himself as a fixture in the Blues’ top four, posting 43 points and a +20 rating in his sophomore season while placing 18th in Norris Trophy voting. “Shatty” went on to have the most productive years of his career in St. Louis, routinely averaging over 20 minutes per game, earning Norris votes three times, and totaling 59 goals and 258 points in 425 regular-season games as a Blue. He ranks seventh in Blues franchise history in goals, assists and points and sits 12th on the all-time franchise games played list among blue-liners.

St. Louis routinely made the postseason with Shattenkirk in tow but only advanced past the first round twice. But with Shattenkirk in the final season of his contract in the 2016-17 campaign and set to earn a considerable raise on his previous $4.25MM cap hit, St. Louis made him arguably the top rental acquisition available at the 2017 deadline and shipped him to the Capitals for a haul that included a first-round pick, later flipped to the Flyers to acquire future captain Brayden Schenn (Philadelphia used the selection to draft Morgan Frost). Shattenkirk managed 14 points in 19 regular-season contests for Washington but hit a rut in the postseason, limited to a goal and six assists in 13 games with a -4 rating as the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Caps were upset by the Penguins in the Second Round.

Shattenkirk understandably wasn’t brought back and hit free agency that offseason, inking a rich four-year, $26.6MM commitment with the Rangers. However, his offensive production and possession play dipped significantly upon arriving in Manhattan. After posting a career-worst 0.38 points per game and a -15 rating in the 2018-19 campaign, New York bought out the final two seasons of his contract and made him a UFA again ahead of schedule.

He landed a one-year, $1.75MM pact with the Lightning, receiving reduced minutes on a stacked defense core that featured names like Victor Hedman, Ryan McDonagh and Mikhail Sergachev ahead of him on the depth chart. He responded with 34 points in 70 games, a much-improved 53.7 CF%, and added 13 points in 25 playoff games as he captured his first and only Stanley Cup.

Shattenkirk became a free agent again at season’s end. After rebuilding his market value in Tampa, he inked another multi-year deal, heading back to the Western Conference on a three-year, $11.7MM pact with the rebuilding Ducks. Anaheim had just a 71-114-35 record in Shattenkirk’s three seasons in Orange County. However, the New York native still averaged top-four minutes and posted 77 points in 212 appearances as a stable veteran presence along with Cam Fowler on an otherwise inexperienced Ducks back end.

After his tenure in Anaheim quietly ended in 2023, he joined the Bruins on a cheap one-year deal for the 2023-24 campaign. He played a supporting depth role more than anything else, serving as a semi-routine healthy scratch for the first time and averaging a career-low 15:47 per game. The right-shot defender still contributed 24 points in 61 games and received second-unit power-play duties, but that wasn’t enough to generate interest in a guaranteed deal for this season. Shattenkirk was connected to several teams on potential tryouts late in the offseason but opted not to sign any and didn’t participate in a training camp.

With Shattenkirk’s NHL career now officially in the rearview mirror, one of the few unsigned options on defense for teams still looking to add experienced depth is now off the market. He closes the book on a lengthy run in the pros that saw him record 103 goals, 381 assists and 484 points in 952 games. Along the way, he totaled 544 PIMs, 1,886 shots on goal, 928 hits, and averaged 20:17 per game for his career. His estimated career earnings total $60.725MM, per PuckPedia.

All of us at PHR extend our best wishes to Kevin as he enters the post-playing phase of his hockey journey.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Matt Irwin Announces Retirement

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Unrestricted free agent defenseman Matt Irwin is stepping away from the game, the NHLPA announced. He confirms his retirement after 10 NHL seasons and 461 appearances.

“As I reflect on my career, I can’t help but feel incredibly grateful and fortunate to have lived out my childhood dream of playing in the NHL,” Irwin said in a statement released by the players’ association. “My success would not have been possible without the support of my family, my in-laws and especially my wife, Chantel, and two kids, Beckem and Lennon. You all pushed me to be the best version of myself on and off the ice.”

“I’m fortunate to have been surrounded by the best group of teammates that I could have possibly asked for,” Irwin continued. “Each and every one of them made coming to the rink the best years of my life. I hope our paths cross somewhere down the road.”

Now 36, Irwin never played major junior hockey and instead jumped straight from the junior ’A’ BCHL to NCAA hockey with UMass. The left-shot defender spent two seasons there before signing as an undrafted free agent with the Sharks in 2010, kicking off his professional career.

Irwin spent two full seasons with San Jose’s AHL affiliate, then in Worcester, Massachusetts, before receiving his first NHL recall in 2012-13. He appeared in 38 of 48 games for the Sharks during the lockout-shortened season, recording 12 points and a -1 rating while averaging 19:06 per game and finishing 19th in Calder Trophy voting. Irwin also played in all 11 of San Jose’s playoff games as he got an audition in top-pairing minutes at even strength alongside Dan Boyle.

The Victoria, British Columbia native managed to stick around as a full-time NHLer for the following two seasons in the Bay Area but steadily saw his minutes reduced. After a 2014-15 campaign that saw him record a career-high eight goals, Irwin became an unrestricted free agent and signed with the Bruins.

However, Irwin only made two NHL appearances in a Boston sweater, instead spending nearly all of the 2015-16 season on assignment to AHL Providence. Understandably, he was one-and-done with the Bruins, and landed a deal with the Predators in free agency the following offseason.

It was the right choice for Irwin, who ended up playing 195 games in parts of four seasons in Nashville – the most of the six NHL franchises he appeared for. Aside from four appearances for AHL Milwaukee in 2016-17, Irwin managed to avoid being sent to the minors for the next seven years, sticking around in bottom-pairing/press box roles for the Predators, Ducks, Sabres, and Capitals.

Irwin’s last NHL games came with Washington in 2022-23. He recorded five points, a -8 rating and 36 PIMs in 61 games along with 75 blocks and 117 hits. He signed a two-way contract with the Canucks for 2023-24 but didn’t make the team, instead spending all of 2023-24 on assignment to AHL Abbotsford, where he recorded 16 points (5 G, 11 A) and a +2 rating in 65 games while serving as an alternate captain.

Irwin closes the book on his NHL career with 25 goals, 68 assists, 93 points, and a -9 rating in 461 games. He also logged 211 PIMs, 725 shots and a respectable 50.6 CF% at even strength while averaging 15:26 per game. He also appeared in 47 playoff games for the Sharks and Preds in 2013, 2014, 2017, and 2018, most notably playing in all 22 postseason contests as Nashville advanced to the only Stanley Cup Final in franchise history in 2017.

Irwin also logged 314 AHL appearances in parts of seven minor-league seasons, totaling 32 goals and 103 assists for 135 points. All of us at Pro Hockey Rumors extend our best wishes to Irwin in retirement.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Anton Strålman To Retire

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Longtime NHL defender Anton Strålman has retired, as noted by Robin Olausson of Hockey Sverige. Neither he nor the NHL Alumni Association have made an official announcement, but he’s now joined Swedish women’s soccer club Skultorps IF as a coach, Olausson said.

Strålman’s NHL career all but ended over a year ago. After managing to land a contract off a PTO with the Bruins in training camp in 2022, he failed to stick around at the NHL level, playing just eight games for Boston and spending a good chunk of the 2022-23 campaign in AHL Providence. A free agent last summer, he returned home to put a bookend on his career by suiting up for HV71 of the Swedish Hockey League, where he had 16 points (2 G, 14 A), 10 PIMs, and a -12 rating in 48 games. He added an assist and a +3 rating in their relegation series against IK Oskarshamn to help them stay at the top level of the Swedish pyramid.

The 38-year-old was once one of the more underrated two-way defenders in the NHL. Drafted 216th overall by the Maple Leafs in 2005, Strålman broke into the NHL three years later. After a pair of seasons covering depth bottom-pairing duties for Toronto, he was traded to the Flames and then flipped again to the Blue Jackets in the 2009 offseason.

The move to Columbus is what truly jumpstarted his career. Strålman’s first season in Ohio saw him average over 20 minutes per game and break out for 34 points in 73 contests. He’d regress to a goal and 18 points in 51 games the following year, though, marking the end of his brief stint with the Jackets. He was non-tendered and became a UFA in 2011 at the age of 24, and he needed to wait until after the 2011-12 campaign started to catch on with his next NHL team – the Rangers.

In New York, Strålman’s game never popped offensively, but he did do well to establish himself as a reliable defensive presence who could shoulder second-pairing minutes. He averaged 18:22 per game in the Big Apple with solid possession metrics, posting a 54.3 CF% in front of expert goaltending from Henrik Lundqvist to lead to a cumulative +32 rating in 182 appearances for the Rangers, adding seven goals and 31 assists for 38 points.

That showing boosted his market value significantly heading into free agency in 2014, landing a five-year, $22.5MM deal with the Lightning that stands as the most lucrative contract of his career. His play popped accordingly in Tampa Bay, immediately making an impact with a career-high 30 assists and 39 points in 82 games before the Bolts marched their way to the Stanley Cup Final. Strålman maintained a high level of play in Tampa, averaging around 30 points per 82 games and logging nearly 22 minutes per game, with a cumulative +80 rating across his five-year deal.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t a part of their three straight Stanley Cup Final runs from 2020 to 2022. He priced himself out of Tampa upon reaching free agency again in 2019, instead inking a three-year, $16.5MM contract with the intrastate rival Panthers. That marked the beginning of the end of his NHL career, and by Year 2 of the contract, he’d fallen out of a top-four role. He had nine points in 38 games for Florida in 2020-21, leading them to surrender a second-round pick to dump the final year of his deal at a $5.5MM cap hit on the Coyotes.

Strålman did have a brief resurgence on a thin Arizona blue line, rebounding for 23 points in 74 games in 2021-22 while averaging 21:20 per game. It was his best offensive total in five years, and his highest usage in four, but his once-sparking possession metrics continued to dip below average. He needed the aforementioned PTO with Boston to keep his NHL career alive the following year before heading home in 2023.

All told, Strålman finishes his NHL career with 63 goals, 230 assists, 293 points, a +46 rating, and a 51.3 CF% in 938 appearances while averaging nearly 20 minutes per game. He made the Stanley Cup Final in back-to-back years with the Rangers and Lightning and totaled 26 points and a -4 rating in 113 playoff games. PHR wishes Strålman the best in the next phase of his career.

Riley Sheahan Announces Retirement

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Longtime Detroit Red Wings forward Riley Sheahan has announced his retirement from professional hockey, per an article from Bill Potrecz of BP Sports Niagara. Sheahan was a 2010 first-round pick and went on to play in 637 NHL games and 120 AHL games across a 12-year career, spanning six NHL franchises. Sheahan hasn’t played since the 2022-23 season when he left a middling role with the Buffalo Sabres and Rochester Americans for 12 games with EHC Biel-Bienne of Switzerland’s top league.

Sheahan’s was drafted after his freshman season at the University of Notre Dame, and played through his junior year before turning pro at the end of the 2011-12 season. His 66 points across 114 games with the Fighting Irish quickly translated to the pro flight, with Sheahan scoring 38 points across his first 79 games in the AHL. He was up to an NHL role by 2013-14, scoring 24 points in 42 games as a rookie – just enough to solidify an everyday spot on Detroit’s fourth line. The responsible and hard-nosed winger supported Detroit through the next four seasons before a 2017 trade sent him to Pittsburgh in a swap for Scott Wilson and draft picks. Sheahan’s role didn’t grow much in Pittsburgh, and he was flipped roughly one season later in Pittsburgh’s acquisition of Nick Bjugstad and Jared McCann from Florida. That second trade kicked off Sheahan’s journeyman tenure – as he’d go through moves north to Edmonton, east to Buffalo, and west to Seattle over the course of the next three seasons. He served as a depth forward everywhere he went, only surpassing the 25-point mark three times in his career – the 2014-15 (36), 2015-16 (25), and 2017-18 (32) seasons.

Sheahan struggled with injuries through his later career, landing on IR in 2019, 2021, and 2022. The final designation – a move to IR on October 7, 2022 – was the result of an undisclosed injury, and Sheahan would only play in eight more games in North American pros before his career came to a close. He’ll now hang up his skates having scored 194 points in the NHL and 61 in the AHL. Sheahan shared with Potrecz that he’s now supporting Sunday night development skates with the Niagara North Stars, and said he hasn’t closed off the idea of trying to grow his coaching role one day – though he emphasized that his wife and two young children will come first.

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