Henrik Lundqvist Reveals Why He Retired Three Years Earlier Than He Wanted To

"When my time in New York was over, I really thought I was going to hang it up," Lundqvist said. "But then I remember a month, two months after… I went to the rink just to skate, and I loved it.

"I was not done. I could feel it. In my body and in my head I felt like I had at least three more years."

Lundqvist inked a one-year deal with the Capitals and planned to return during the 2021 playoffs. That plan fell apart after his initial meetings with team doctors.

"I knew I had a condition where my valve was leaky… but it was steady for so many years," Lundqvist said. “Then that fall… all the tests, everything is actually worse than we thought.”

The severity of the findings left no doubt about the next step for the goalie, who couldn't do anything to avoid an early retirement.

"My aorta was too big, so we needed to replace that and the valve was hanging on. So, yeah, it’s kind of an easy decision to say, ‘I have to do it.’”

Henrik Lundqvist's Decision Was Final, But Difficult to Accept

Lundqvist underwent open-heart surgery and later developed recurring pericarditis, a complication that ended any thought of playing again.

Despite his forced retirement, Lundqvist says that he’s at peace with how he ended his career.

“It was never meant to be,” Lundqvist said of his would-be comeback. “Physically, mentally, I felt so good, but I knew I can’t fight this thing.”

Lundqvist now works as an analyst with both MSG Network and TNT and he retired boasting an impressive resume, inclduing two All-Star appeareances, a Vezina Trophy award, and 459 wins in 887 games posting a 2.43 goals-against average and a .918 save percentage.