Dallas Stars forward Martin Hanzal reportedly is considering retirement from the NHL after several injury-plagued years with serious back issues, according to Czech website hokej.cz (translation required). However, with his contract technically still on the books for the Stars, it’s likely any official announcement won’t be made until the 2019-20 season is complete. Craig Morgan, formerly of The Athletic, notes that he spoke to Hanzal several months ago and the veteran admitted that retirement was a likely option, but he would wait until his contract has officially expired before making a final decision.
The 33-year-old forward signed a three-year, $14.25M contract in July of 2017 with Dallas, but it has been one of the team’s most disappointing contracts over those three years. Hanzal has played in just 45 games over those three years, scoring six goals and 12 points and hasn’t appeared in a game since Dec. 23 of 2018.
Hanzal had been quite successful up until his agreement with Dallas. He played most of his career with the Phoenix/Arizona Coyotes, playing in 608 games with the franchise for 10 seasons before the team traded the pending UFA to Minnesota for the 2017 playoff run, which turned out to be a first-round exit. Regardless, the forward was coming off a 20-goal season and at 30 years old was considered one of the top free agents.
In total, Hanzal has played in 673 games with 127 goals and 338 points. His best season was in 2015-16 when he scored 13 goals and 41 points.
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