Former Jets Captain Announces Retirement

Former Winnipeg Jets captain Blake Wheeler is retiring after 16 NHL seasons, he announced on Wednesday's edition of "Jets at Noon."

“More or less, right after last year knew I was all done,” Wheeler said. “I just haven’t felt like a rush to like make a formal announcement or anything. But yeah, after my injury and kinda the way things ended last year, I just didn’t have anything left in the tank for it. So yeah, I was at peace with it almost immediately after last year and yeah, I’m just enjoying being a dad and kinda slowing things down a little bit, and being around my family.”

Wheeler, 38, last played with the New York Rangers in 2023-24. He suffered a major knee injury in February of 2024, and returned to play just one game in the playoffs, which would ultimately be the last of his career.

“I tore the ligaments on both sides of my ankle and then I broke my fibula,” Wheeler said. “Once I got hurt, I was already kinda feeling like that was gonna be sort of my last year when I was playing, even healthy in New York. And then when the injury happened, it just felt like that was some sort of sign. I hadn’t really been hurt my entire career more or less.”

The Plymouth, Minnesota native appeared in 1,172 NHL games with the Rangers, Jets (briefly with the Atlanta Thrashers) and the Boston Bruins, scoring 321 goals and 943 points. His best seasons came in 2017-18 and 2018-19, as he scored 91 points in each of them and made trips to the All-Star game.

Wheeler was also the Jets' captain for six years from 2016-22, though former head coach Rick Bowness stripped him of the captaincy ahead of the 2022-23 campaign.

He retires as the Jets' all-time leader in assists (550) and points (897).