Do you think teams ever contact retired players?

[Schennanigans]

Like try to convince a player to come out of retirement for one more season? Like let’s say a situation where a team feels they’re one piece away from a title and that retired player fills that need. Also is there anything in the cba that prohibits this? Let’s use Bergeron as an example. A team contacts him and pleads for him to come back for one more cup.

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[Sasha Orlov]

I’d say it’s pretty rare for a retired player to still be good enough for teams to beg them to come back

 

[JoeSakic13]

Well, maybe one guy…..

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

Like try to convince a player to come out of retirement for one more season? Like let’s say a situation where a team feels they’re one piece away from a title and that retired player fills that need. Also is there anything in the cba that prohibits this? Let’s use Bergeron as an example. A team contacts him and pleads for him to come back for one more cup.

The Maple Leafs got defenseman Calle Johansson to come out of retirement for the 03-04 season.

Calle Johansson - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Johansson retired after the 2002–03 NHL season, but the Toronto Maple Leafspersuaded him to come back and help their team in their playoff run the next season.

 

[Brodeur]

John Vanbiesbrouck retired after the 2001 SCF (and was on the losing side). Lou convinced him to unretire before the 2002 trade deadline.

I remember reading that San Jose contacted Scott Stevens after the 2005 lockout but he declined. Stevens was under contract with the Devils and had intended to play had there been a 2004-05 season.

Only CBA restriction is that the player has to be signed before the trade deadline. I think there was one year where Peter Forsberg sat out the entire season then signed right before the deadline.

 

[Leafs87]

John Vanbiesbrouck retired after the 2001 SCF (and was on the losing side). Lou convinced him to unretire before the 2002 trade deadline.

I remember reading that San Jose contacted Scott Stevens after the 2005 lockout but he declined.

Only CBA restriction is that the player has to be signed before the trade deadline. I think there was one year where Peter Forsberg sat out the entire season then signed right before the deadline.

I believe it’s actually November 1st to be eligible for the playoffs now.

 

[Brodeur]

I believe it’s actually November 1st to be eligible for the playoffs now.

Forward Mike Fisher signs 1-year deal to return to Predators

The team signed the centre to a one-year, $1 million contract. The contract will be pro-rated over the remainder of this season.

www.nhlpa.com

There’s a December 1 deadline for RFAs but I didn’t think there was an earlier deadline for UFAs. Mike Fisher signed February 2018 and was eligible for those playoffs. But maybe I missed the memo on a rule change.

 

[miscs75]

John Vanbiesbrouck retired after the 2001 SCF (and was on the losing side). Lou convinced him to unretire before the 2002 trade deadline.

Random info but he was helping coach his son’s hockey teams during that retirement. His younger son was a goalie (who wasn’t very good) who had his panthers style Brown pads.

 

[bobholly39]

I’d say it’s pretty rare for a retired player to still be good enough for teams to beg them to come back

Yeah exactly.

Bergeron is a good call out by OP as probably an exception to the rule, but it's pretty rare

 

[Coffee]

Yeah exactly.

Bergeron is a good call out by OP as probably an exception to the rule, but it's pretty rare

For fun exercise , who are some other exceptions to the rule or current players you think will age gracefully

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

I remember watching an interview Denis Potvin where he said the Rangers contacted him in 1994

 

[bobholly39]

For fun exercise , who are some other exceptions to the rule or current players you think will age gracefully

Current players?

Close to retirement age:

Carey Price. I know he's still under contract, and injured - but I get the feeling if he wanted to he could come back in top form for a playoff run (his issue is pain, he can't play too long without severe pain, but for a short stint, possibly?)

Sidney Crosby/Alex Ovechkin. Those 2 are obvious, and ageing like fine wine. Whenever they retire, I'm sure they'd still be capable enough to play again. But because of how high profile players they are (Price too), this is quite unlikely they're return post retirement.

Kopitar is 37, still playing great. He could retire, and return.

Honestly - it's an impossible question to answer. Because it comes down to when a player retires - and if they retire in top form or not, and we won't know till these guys retire. Past high profile players:

Gretzky, Roy, Bergeron. Three high profile players who retired as still elite players, who easily could have come back for 1 or 2 more seasons in top form.

 

[Voight]

Brian Gionta was retired, got asked to play on the US Olympic team in 2018 (since the NHL wouldn't let the players go) and then signed with the Bruins after. Tho, he came out of retirement because USA Hockey asked him to, not because of Boston.

Guy Lafleur did the reverse of this. After being retired for three years and having been inducted into the HHOF, he asked close friend Michel Bergeron (coach of the Rangers) if he would have him on his team. Eventually, those two and his agent convinced Phil Esposito to sign him to a contract. When Bergeron was fired after the season, Lafleur followed him to his next job with the Nordiques.

 

[JianYang]

Vincent Damphousse was one of those guys that never played after the year long lockout. He signed with colorado prior to the lockout but never played a game there.

Washington had an offer for him prior to the 05/06 season, but damphousse at that time mentioned that he only was coming back to play if Montreal or San Jose called.

Then during the season, I think Montreal finally ended up calling but he decided not to come back at that point.

He talked about this on a recent podcast with Chris nilan, and I'm going off my memory but I believe that is how it shook down.

 

[Lunatik]

I believe it’s actually November 1st to be eligible for the playoffs now.

No.

There is a Dec. 1 deadline for RFAs to sign. UFAs have until the trade deadline.

 

[TheDawnOfANewTage]

Krejci was an interesting recent one- think I heard on a chiclets interview that he was very clear he was totally seriously extra done after the one extra season. He still had somethin in the tank, too, but seemingly cared about that Boston group more than milking all the time and money from the NHL possible. I respect it. Probably came from the players far more than the franchise in that case, wonder how often they bugged him.