Riley Nash, who played final NHL game with Rangers in 2023-24, retires after injury
Riley Nash’s only game with the New York Rangers turned out to be the last one of his NHL career.
The 36-year-old center officially announced his retirement on Wednesday, ending a career that saw him play 628 games with seven NHL teams. His last game came as a member of the Rangers against the Washington Capitals on Dec. 9, 2023. He was scoreless with one shot on goal in a 4-0 road loss.
Nash, who had signed with the Rangers as a free agent on July 1, 2023, also played 41 games for Hartford of the American Hockey League in 2023-24, finishing with 11 goals and 27 points. He sat out all of 2024-25 while recovering from a knee injury sustained the previous season and became a free agent on July 1.
“It’s official — I’m retiring,” Nash told Castanet. “It is definitely something weird to say and it hasn’t really sunk in yet, even though I basically had all of last year away from the rink, but this year will still be weird. This is all I’ve done and focused on for the past 30 years, but now is the time to end this chapter or book and look at what’s next.”
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Former Rangers forward Riley Nash retires from NHL after injury
Nash was born in Consort, Alberta, but raised in Kamloops, British Columbia, and was selected by the Edmonton Oilers in the first round (No. 21 overall) of the 2007 NHL Draft. After three years at Cornell, he was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes prior to the 2010 draft and made his NHL debut on Dec. 21, 2011.
He went on to play in 628 NHL games with the Hurricanes, Boston Bruins, Columbus Blue Jackets, Winnipeg Jets, Arizona Coyotes, Tampa Bay Lightning and the Rangers, finishing with 178 points (63 goals, 113 assists).
Nash also played in 42 Stanley Cup Playoff games with the Bruins, Blue Jackets, Lightning and Toronto Maple Leafs, finishing with two goals and eight points. He was mostly used as a fourth-liner who killed penalties — and generally did it well.
His best NHL season came with the Bruins in 2017-18, when he had 41 points (15 goals, 26 assists) and was plus-16 in 76 games.
He spent the last few seasons of his career mostly as a complementary AHL piece, serving as an alternate captain for Charlotte in 2022-23 before spending all but one game of his final healthy season with Hartford in 2023-24. In addition to his NHL totals, Nash also scored 193 points in 312 AHL games during parts of seven seasons.
The veteran center told Castanet that he knew it was time to hang up his skates.
“With three wonderful young kids and the way my body has behaved over the past few years, it was time to take a step back as an older guy and let others chase their dream the same way I did,” he said. “I consider myself very fortunate to have played in front of my kids over the last few years. They helped me regain the passion and love for the sport I had as a kid. Now was the right time to step away.”
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