Sharks defenseman Markus Nutivaara retires at 29

After 275 NHL games, defenseman Markus Nutivaara is cutting his hockey career short. He has retired at age 29 because of a hip injury, per Finnish reporter Tommi Seppala of Yle Urheilu.

Nutivaara last played in the NHL in 2021-22, competing in a single game with the Florida Panthers. He reportedly suffered the injury when he crashed into the net right before the team’s opening game that season. He made it back and played 7:01 in one game Oct. 29, 2021, not knowing at the time that it would be his last. He had season-ending hip surgery and signed a one-year deal with the Sharks when free agency opened last July, expressing optimism that he’d be ready for 2022-23 training camp. But he never made it back into regular-season action, and Sharks GM Mike Grier indicated after the season that it was the hip injury that kept Nutivaara out all year. Sharks reporter Corey Masiak suggested in April that the injury could end his career.

And it did. Nutivaara played 244 of his 275 games with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Finishing his career with 17 goals and 71 points, he leaves behind a reputation as a sturdy depth defenseman who could handle himself well on a lower pair. It was tidy business for the Blue Jackets to nab him in the seventh round of the 2015 NHL draft, 189^th overall. He rose up the Finnish pro ranks rather quickly and reached the NHL by 2016-17 at age 22. Among Blue Jackets defensemen, he sits 12^th in franchise history in games (244), 10^th in goals (17) and 14^th in points (60).

Nutivaara’s one-year deal signed last season was for $1.75 million (a $1.5 million cap hit with a $250,000 performance bonus). He was slated to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason and might have found a home given the depressed market for blueliners.