Former Blues Defenseman Announces Retirement After 14 Seasons

Scandella, 35, did not play last season, and even told Matthew DeFranks of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in October of 2024 that he was retired. Almost a year later, he's finally confirmed the news officially.

The Montreal native last played in 2023-24, scoring two goals and eight assists in 65 games with the Blues while averaging 12:28 of ice time. He appeared in 215 games over his five seasons with the Blues, scoring nine goals and 34 points with a plus-39 rating while averaging 16:55 of ice time. He also appeared in 17 playoff games, but did not score a point.

Scandella entered the league as a second-round pick by the Minnesota Wild in the 2008 NHL Draft. While he cracked the Wild's lineup just two years later and became a staple on their blue line for seven seasons, he unfortunately dealt with numerous injuries early in his career. Concussions, finger injuries, groin injuries all limited him through his first three NHL seasons. Still, he persevered and established himself as a capable shutdown defenseman for Minnesota.

In 2017, the Wild then traded Scandella to the Buffalo Sabres, and he would remain with them for them for three seasons. He had arguably his best NHL season with the Sabres in 2017-18, as he played all 82 games for the only time in his career and scored five goals and 22 points.

The Sabres then traded Scandella to his hometown Montreal Canadiens in January of 2020, but he didn't stay with them long as the Habs traded him to the Blues just a month later. That might've been for the best though, because as previously mentioned, he enjoyed a stable late career in St. Louis.

In total, Scandella finishes his career with 51 goals and 170 points in 784 games. He added six goals and nine points in 56 playoff games with the Wild and Blues.

It's not clear what Scandella will do next, but with his solid defensive play, he could find a role for himself as a coach somewhere. That's if he wants to go down that path of course, but it could be a good path for him.