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Jack Campbell has announced his retirement from professional hockey at the age of 34. He announced on his Instagram.

The veteran goaltender had not played professionally since the 2024-25 season, under a one-year, $775K contract with the Detroit Red Wings, where he did not see NHL time and played 14 games with the Grand Rapids Griffins, the AHL affiliate. Early into that season, the Port Huron, Michigan native entered the Player Assistance Program. He had hoped to raise his value in Detroit after a disappointing tenure with the Edmonton Oilers, two seasons where he combined for a -21.83 goals saved above expected. The Oilers bought out the last three years of his five-year, $25MM contract signed back in 2022.

In his NHL tenure, he posted a 93-52-18 record across his career that began with the Dallas Stars, the team that selected him 11th overall in the 2010 NHL draft and gave him the first of his seven total contracts signed in his career. His entry-level deal, a three-year, $4.2MM ($1.4MM AAV) contract signed in 2010, didn’t take effect until 2012, after he split time with the Windsor Spitfires and Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds in major junior hockey. Campbell also spent those days with Team USA in three straight IIHF World Junior Championships within that span, earning a gold medal in 2010 and a bronze medal in 2011 as the competition’s best goaltender.

From there, Campbell was with the Texas Stars, the AHL affiliate of Dallas, winning a Calder Cup in 2014 before making his NHL debut at age 21. He didn’t see an extended run as an NHL goaltender until 2018 with the Los Angeles Kings, signing with the club after being traded by Dallas further west in June of 2016. That run came due to the injury of Kings legendary goaltender, Jonathan Quick, forcing LA to call Campbell to the NHL. In 31 games, he posted a career best 10.72 GSAx, from a .928 save percentage and 2.3 goals against average. His tenure out west caught the eyes of the Toronto Maple Leafs; where they’d eventually trade for the then 27-year-old goaltender.

Campbell truly shined in the NHL’s modern mecca. On the two-year, $1.65MM AAV deal he signed with the Kings that didn’t kick in until 2021, he served as backup to then Leaf goaltender Frederik Andersen before eventually earning the starting role, off a stellar start with 11 straight wins, the most by a goalie to start a season up to that point. ‘Soupy’ then was named an NHL All-Star in 2021-22, posting a .914 Sv% and 2.64 GAA in 49 games, winning 31 of them in his age-30 season with 5 shutouts.

That earned him his 5-year deal in Edmonton, where the Oilers believed Campbell was the solution to their problems in goal. However, he did not live up to his previous all-star numbers and since had not been able to recoup such consistency, before his buyout, Edmonton sent him down to the Bakersfield Condors in the AHL.

Throughout his career, Campbell mentioned times when pressure and expectations for himself have weighed heavily on him. In the announcement, he said he’ll move forward as a life coach and referred to times in his life when he needed someone who could advise him and hold him accountable. He tagged Novus Global, saying, “I’m incredibly grateful to begin this next chapter as a coach with @novus.global. I can’t wait to walk alongside athletes, leaders, and high performers as they create bigger visions for their lives and become the people those visions require.”

This article first appeared on Pro Hockey Rumors and was syndicated with permission.

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