Two-time National Hockey League All-Star Cam Atkinson of Riverside, Connecticut has retired at the age of 36 according to Sam Walker of redwingsinsider.com on Thursday. Atkinson played 13 National Hockey League seasons from 2011 to 2025.
Who has Atkinson played for to date?
Atkinson played his first decade in the NHL with the Columbus Blue Jackets from 2011 to 2021. He then played two seasons with the Philadelphia Flyers (2021 to 2022 and 2023 to 2024), and one season with the Tampa Bay Lightning (2024 to 2025).
Why did Atkinson not play the 2022-23 season?
He did not play this season due to a neck injury.
Atkinson’s career statistics
Atkinson had 253 goals and 236 assists for 489 points in 809 games. He was a -11 with 194 penalty minutes, with 107 power-play points, 19 shorthanded points (remarkably all 19 shorthanded points were shorthanded goals), 51 game-winning goals, 2320 shots on goal, seven hat tricks, 105 faceoff wins, 390 blocked shots, 406 hits, 365 takeaways and 286 giveaways.
Two-time NHL All-Star
Twice with the Blue Jackets Atkinson was a NHL All-Star. The first time came in 2016 to 2017, and the second time came in 2018 to 2019.
In 2016-17, Atkinson had 35 goals and 27 assists for 62 points in 82 games. He was a +13 with 22 penalty minutes, 21 power-play points, three shorthanded points, nine game-winning goals, 240 shots on goal, two faceoff wins, 34 blocked shots, 33 hits, 36 takeaways and 21 giveaways.
In 2018-19, Atkinson had 41 goals and 28 assists for 69 points in 80 games. He was a +3 with 20 penalty minutes, 14 power-play points, four shorthanded points, eight game-winning goals, 295 shots on goal, 24 faceoff wins, 25 blocked shots, 27 hits, 47 takeaways, and 45 giveaways.
Atkinson’s 2024-25 NHL stats
This past season with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Atkinson had four goals and five assists for nine points. He was a -4 with 11 penalty minutes, one power-play point, 47 shots on goal, one faceoff win, 10 blocked shots, 15 hits, three takeaways and 12 giveaways. Atkinson’s faceoff win came in the Lightning’s opening game of the 2024-25 NHL season. a 4-1 Tampa Bay win over the Philadelphia Flyers.
Will Retire as a Blue Jacket
Atkinson will sign a one-day contract with the Blue Jackets on October 16. It is the same day the Blue Jackets will play the Colorado Avalanche at the Nationwide Arena.
Lost their season opener
Columbus lost their first game of the 2025-26 National Hockey League regular season as they were beaten 2-1 by the Nashville Predators on Thursday. Nashville got the game-winning goal at 2:41 of the third period as Ryan O’Reilly scored on the power-play from Filip Forsberg and Roman Josi to break a 1-1 tie.
