NHL stars P.K. Subban, Zdeno Chara, ironman Keith Yandle all announce retirements

Tuesday was a big day for retirements in the NHL as several prominent defensemen saw their careers come to an end with P.K. Subban, Zdeno Chara, and Keith Yandle all announcing their retirements on the same day. 

Subban seemed to be the most likely to continue playing this season, but remained unsigned long into the offseason. He played 834 regular season games in the NHL with the Montreal Canadiens, Nashville Predators, and New Jersey Devils. He was not only one of the most exciting defensemen in the league on the ice, he has also been one of the league's brightest personalities and no doubt has a future in broadcast with one of the league's rights holders if he so chooses to follow that path. 

Chara was the tallest player in the NHL history and one of the most complete and physically dominant defenders the league has ever seen. He was one of the building blocks of the Boston Bruins organization for more than a decade and helped the franchise end its Stanley Cup drought during the 2010-11 season with their seven-game series win over the Vancouver Canucks.

Yandle was always a very good offensive defenseman, but never a star on the same level as Subban and Chara. What he did have, though, is the NHL's Ironman streak in which he played 989 consecutive games, breaking the record previously held by Doug Jarvis. Yandle broke the record during the 2021-22 season as a member of the Philadelphia Flyers. He will hold that record for only a short time as Vegas Golden Knights forward Phil Kessel is just seven games behind him.