Riley Nash retires after 12-year NHL career
After dressing for more than 600 NHL games, Riley Nash is calling it a career.
“It’s official – I’m retiring,” Nash told Tyler Lowey of Castanet, a news website based out of Kelowna, B.C., where he grew up.
Nash’s last professional season came in 2023-24 after signing a two-year, two-way contract with the New York Rangers. He spent the majority of the season with the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack, scoring 11 goals and 16 assists for 27 points in 41 regular-season games. He also scored four goals and two assists for six points in seven Calder Cup Playoff games.
Nash missed the entire 2024-25 season dealing with a knee injury.
“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,” Nash told Castanet. “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.”
In 628 career NHL games, Nash scored 63 goals and recorded 113 assists for 176 points with the Rangers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Arizona Coyotes, Winnipeg Jets, Columbus Blue Jackets, Boston Bruins and Carolina Hurricanes.
His best season came in 2017-18 with the Bruins, scoring 15 goals and recorded 26 assists for 41 points.
He also scored two goals and six assists for eight points in 42 Stanley Cup Playoff games, including two games with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2021.
Drafted in the first round by Edmonton Oilers in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, Nash also spent parts of seven seasons in the AHL, scoring 80 goals and 113 assists for 193 points in 312 regular-season games with the Wolf Pack, Charlotte Checkers and Syracuse Crunch.
“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.
Before turning professional, Nash spent three seasons playing college hockey at Cornell, scoring 37 goals and recording 65 assists for 102 points in 102 career NCAA games.