Martin Hanzal retires at age 33

Former National Hockey League center Martin Hanzal of Pisek, Czech Republic retired on Monday at age 33 according to TSN. Hanzal played 12 seasons in the NHL with the Phoenix/Arizona Coyotes, Minnesota Wild, and Dallas Stars from 2007 to 2019.

In 673 games, Hanzal had 127 goals and 211 assists for 338 points. He was a -43 with 574 penalty minutes, 88 power play points, seven shorthanded points, 24 game winning goals, 1382 shots on goal, 5507 faceoff wins, 371 blocked shots, 1541 hits, 305 takeaways and 216 giveaways.

Hanzal’s finest NHL season came in 2015-16 with the Coyotes. That year he had 13 goals and 28 assists for 41 points. He had career highs in assists (28), points (41), power play points (13), power play assists (10).

The following season in 2016-17, Hanzal recorded the 20 goal plateau for the first time in his National Hockey League career. He had 16 goals for the Coyotes before being traded to Minnesota with Ryan White and a fourth round draft pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft (Wild selected center Mason Shaw) for prospect Grayson Downing, a first round draft pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft (Coyotes selected defenseman Pierre-Olivier Joseph), and a second round draft pick in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft (Coyotes selected defenseman Kevin Bahl). Then in 20 games in 2017 with the Wild, Hanzal recorded four goals. In the postseason, Hanzal had five goals and eight assists for 13 points in 28 games.

While with the Coyotes he recorded the fastest hat trick in franchise history. On December 4, 2008, Hanzal scored thrice in 20 minutes and 27 seconds in a 6-3 Arizona win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

It is interesting that Hanzal received Selke Trophy consideration for three straight seasons from 2010 to 2012 when he was a -43 for his career. However, for those three seasons, Hanzal was a +16. He also won 51.8% of his total faceoffs in his career and had 89 more takeaways than giveaways.

Initially the Coyotes’ first round pick, 17th overall, in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, Hanzal played one season with the Omaha Lancers of the United States Hockey League in 2005-06, and one season with the Red Deer Rebels of the Western Hockey League in 2006-07, before joining the NHL with the Coyotes in 2007-08.