Rick Nash retires after 15 NHL seasons

Rick Nash is officially hanging up the skates.

The six-time NHL all-star has announced he’s retiring from the NHL after 15 seasons due to unresolved concussion related symptoms.

The announcement was made by his agency, Top Shelf Management, in a statement Friday:

The 34-year-old forward put up 18 goals in 60 games with the Rangers last season before being dealt to the Bruins at the trade deadline.

Nash suffered a concussion in his 11th game with Boston before returning for the playoffs and managing five points in 12 games. Nash became a free agent at the end of the 2017-18 season and reportedly received strong interest and likely would have netted a multi-year contract worth at least $15 million.

The 34-year-old was was the first overall draft pick by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2002 NHL Draft and recorded 437 goals and 805 points in 1,066 career NHL games split between the Blue Jackets, New York Rangers and Bruins.

Nash shared the Rocket Richard Trophy as the NHL’s top goal-scorer with Jarome Iginla and Ilya Kovalchuk in 2003-04 when they all scored 41 goals. He’s also a two-time Olympic gold medalist, winning in 2010 and 2014 with Team Canada.

The veteran forward was almost unstoppable in his prime with the Blue Jackets. He’s the team’s franchise leader in almost every major offensive category and will go down as one of the best players Columbus has ever seen. There might not be a better goal to illustrate his all-around skill than his filthy 2008 goal vs. the Coyotes where he puts on a complete clinic and leaves the commentators speechless.

Wishing the best in retirement to one of the best power forwards the game of hockey has seen.