24-year-old Nolan Patrick has dealt with several tough blows in the early stages of his career, and has been served yet another, as it appears he will miss the entire 2022-23 season due to ongoing head issues.
There had been rumors throughout the summer that he may be placed on long-term injured reserve to begin the season, and it appears those were correct. In fact, when speaking on his most recent 32 Thoughts Podcast, Elliotte Friedman made it sound as though Patrick’s playing career as a whole may be finished.
“I had heard a rumor in the summer that Nolan Patrick was going to retire. Then I was told that is not the case,” Friedman said. “Patrick has a salary of $1.2 million. There is no point in him retiring, as he has a salary to collect.”
“I think there would be a lot of people that would be surprised to see him play this year, and they wonder about his future too.”
This is an extremely unfortunate situation for Patrick, who not too long ago was considered one of the games brightest up-and-coming stars. After an exceptional junior hockey career with the Brandon Wheat Kings, he was selected second overall in the 2017 draft by the Philadelphia Flyers and cracked their opening night roster a few short months later.
After his first two seasons, his head issues began occurring, and forced him to sit out the entire 2019-20 season. He was able to return in 2020-21, but was highly ineffective after the long time off, and was traded to the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for Cody Glass last offseason. The change of scenery didn’t prove beneficial however, as he was limited to just 25 games as a result of his ongoing head issues. Perhaps taking an extended time off may prove to be what he needs, but at this time it seems his career may in fact be finished.
More must-reads: