The 2024-25 National Hockey League regular season is now complete and the major news in the offseason so far has been situated around free agent signings and trades. However, over the last week two American players have announced their retirement. Let’s see who will not be returning to the ice for the 2025-26 NHL campaign.
Christian Fischer
The native of Chicago, Illinois retired at the age of 28 on Friday according to Rogers Sportsnet. This retirement was a little surprising because most players are still in their prime at this age. Fischer played nine seasons in the NHL at right wing with the Arizona Coyotes, Detroit Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets.
In 523 regular season games, Fischer had 62 goals and 75 assists for 137 points. He was a -66 with 144 penalty minutes, 11 power-play points, five game-winning goals, two shorthanded points, one hat trick, 725 shots on goal, 204 faceoff wins, 201 blocked shots, 978 hits, 91 takeaways, and 139 giveaways. The hat trick came in a 4-1 Coyotes win over the Blue Jackets on October 23, 2018.
This past season, Fischer shared his time with the Red Wings and Blue Jackets. He actually only played one game with Columbus–a 4-0 Blue Jackets loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on March 13. The other 45 games were with Detroit. In 46 games, Fischer had one goal and six assists for seven points. He was a -6 with 11 penalty minutes, 31 shots on goal, nine faceoff wins, 19 blocked shots, 93 hits, four takeaways, and 15 giveaways. The lone goal this past season came on October 24, in a 5-3 Red Wings win over the New Jersey Devils. Fischer tied the game at one with one minute and 51 seconds left in the first period from Andrew Copp of Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Tyler Johnson
The native of Spokane, Washington played 13 NHL regular seasons with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Chicago Blackhawks and Boston Bruins from 2012 to 2025. Johnson was a NHL All-Star with the Lightning in 2014-15, and won back-to-back Stanley Cup titles with the Lightning in 2020 and 2021.
In 747 regular season games, Johnson had 193 goals and 240 assists for 433 points. He was a +19 with 250 penalty minutes, 116 power-play points, nine shorthanded points, 31 game-winning goals, five hat tricks, Â 1504 shots on goal, 3441 faceoff wins, 312 blocked shots, 590 hits, 228 takeaways, and 268 giveaways. Johnson, who retired as a centre at age 34, led the NHL with five shorthanded goals in 2013-14. When he was an All-Star in 2014-15, he had 29 goals and 43 assists for 72 points.
This past season in Boston, Johnson had two assists in nine games. He was a -10 with 10 penalty minutes, one power-play point, six shots on goal, seven faceoff wins, two blocked shots, five hits, and two giveaways. The power-play point came in a 2-1 Bruins win over the Detroit Red Wings at 8:33 of the first period on November 23. Johnson set up Justin Brazeau of New Liskeard, Ontario with the opening goal.
