5 AHL Players Who Retired This 2023 Offseason

In the ever-shifting landscape of hockey, there are a number of avenues that players can take once they’ve cracked the professional ranks in North America. Rookies can sign entry-level contracts with NHL teams or one- to two-year deals in the AHL or ECHL. Those with a few seasons under their belts can choose to continue in the North American leagues, or perhaps seek more money and playing time in Europe. Toward the end of a player’s career – into one’s 30s, usually – there weighs heavy the idea of retirement.

Whether it is a long-time NHL veteran winding down his career in the AHL, or those who have played most or all of their minor pro games in the A, there are a number of different paths to hang up the skates and call it a career. Here’s five AHL skaters who have retired this offseason.

MICHAEL DEL ZOTTO

With social media feeds filling up with news about the new PHWL and NHL professional tryouts, the news of defenseman Michael Del Zotto finishing his playing career may have been hard to spot. Thankfully, in the late afternoon / early evening of September 6, the sea of information subsided as the official news came via a Del Zotto Instagram post.

Going 20th overall in the first round of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, Del Zotto began his professional career with the New York Rangers at age 19. After playing in parts of five seasons with the Rangers, he was traded to Nashville in January 2014. The trade was a harbinger of a transitory career, as Del Zotto went on to play for Philadelphia (three seasons), Vancouver (two seasons), Anaheim (two non-consecutive seasons), St. Louis (seven games and a Stanley Cup Championship), Columbus (one season), and Ottawa (26 games).

The end of Del Zotto’s 743-game NHL career began in Ontario, Canada. Splitting time between Ottawa and Belleville in 2021-22, he was placed on waivers on April 30 to play with the B-Sens in the postseason. For reasons unknown, Del Zotto did not touch the ice in the AHL playoffs that year. That season would also be the last time he touched NHL ice, as well.

Del Zotto signed a one-year, two-way NHL contract with Florida that July, playing 25 regular season games for AHL Charlotte before being traded to Anaheim on December 19. He finished the season with 25 assists and 31 total points in 40 games played for AHL San Diego. His career ended with 102 AHL games played between Connecticut, Belleville, Charlotte, and San Diego. 

The Stouffville, ONT native played 14 seasons across the NHL and AHL, calling it a career at age 33.

KEVIN POULIN

The second of two AHL players to announce their retirement on September 6, goaltender Kevin Poulin (like Del Zotto) made the news public on Instagram. Poulin was drafted 126th overall in the fifth round of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, netting games for both the New York Islanders and Bridgeport Sound Tigers in 2010-11. He started in net for both teams for five seasons straight before being placed on waivers and claimed by Tampa Bay on September 27. Poulin was assigned to AHL Syracuse a month later on October 25.

Poulin dressed but did not play any games for Syracuse before being traded to Calgary on December 11. He finished the 2015-16 season with the Stockton Heat, seeing action in 29 games (14-11-3, 2.86 goals against average, .909 save percentage). Poulin then took his talents overseas, playing in the Austrian, Swiss, and German primary leagues for one season apiece from 2016-19. After starting a handful of games for Grand Rapids and Ontario in 2019-20, he spent the start of the COVID-19 pandemic playing for Bjorkloven IF of HockeyAllsvenskan (Sweden) in 2020-21.

Beginning the twilight of his playing career, Poulin signed in his home province with the  Laval Rocket on June 28, 2021. Halfway through the season, he assumed Laval’s starting role in net on January 11 after Cayden Primeau went down with an injury. Playing lights out in the crease with a lackluster defense in front of him (7th-worst defensive environment grade), Poulin set the Rocket up for success (18-8-3, 2.34 GAA, .920 SV%). The team earned a first-round bye as a healthy Primeau assumed his previous role in goal for the postseason.

Poulin finished last season with 28 games played for Laval. His 12-12-3 record, 3.18 GAA, and .890 SV% were below his AHL average, and the bulk of the workload went to Primeau as the promising prospect. Poulin has finished with even cuts regarding NHL and AHL games played; he’s seen action in 50 NHL games and 250 AHL contests. Add in 111 games overseas (KHL, DEL, Swiss NL, HockeyAllsvenskan, and ICEHL) and eight ECHL appearances, and you have a career spanning far and wide in professional hockey.

Around The AHL

• Leafs Digest – 9/22 – Nylander MOVED to Center, Murray and Muzzin OUT for Season
• AHL Releases 2023 Preseason Schedule
• 5 AHL Players Who Retired This 2023 Offseason
• AHL Pacific Division News : August 2023
• AHL North Division News: August 2023

GARRETT MITCHELL

On January 27, the Rockford IceHogs announced that forward Garrett Mitchell had undergone successful surgery on his left shoulder and was likely season-ending (in an odd coincidence, Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Garrett Mitchell also injured and had surgery on his left shoulder in April, but we digress). The hockey Mitchell played his last game of the season on January 18. That last game of the year turned out to be the last game of his career, as Mitchell announced his retirement via social media on August 31.

Mitchell was drafted by the Washington Capitals, 175th overall in the sixth round of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. He finished up his final two seasons with the WHL’s Regina Pats playing in some tryout games for the Hershey Bears before joining them full-time in 2012. In Mitchell’s six seasons in Hershey, the Bears made the playoffs all but one time, including a 2016 Calder Cup Finals appearance against the Lake Erie Monsters. He also donned the alternate captain’s “A” for two seasons and the captain’s “C’ for three.

After spending the first part of his career in North America, Mitchell played for HKM Zvolen of the Slovakia Tipos Extraliga in 2018-19. He jumped back stateside in 2019-20, signing with the ECHL’s Reading Royals before earning tryouts with both Laval and Rockford later that season. In Rockford, Mitchell’s tryout was successful, earning him a standard player contract for the 2020-21 season. Mitchell was awarded the captaincy for all three full seasons with the IceHogs (2020-23), and was also honored as the IOA/American Specialty AHL Man of the Year for the Hershey (2017-18) and Rockford (2022-23) communities.

The final totals for Mitchell’s career include 537 AHL games played, 66 goals and 70 assists for 136 total points, 820 PIMs, and adding 42 ECHL contests & 28 games in Slovakia. He also played in one NHL game with the Capitals on April 9, 2017, accruing 8:48 in ice time.

DILLON SIMPSON

While some hockey players decide to announce their retirement on social media themselves, others wait for their new employer to make things public.

On August 24, defenseman Dillon Simpson was named the new assistant coach for the University of North Dakota men’s hockey team. The instantaneous news of Simpson’s new coaching gig effectively announced his retirement as a player. It wasn’t posted on the AHL main site or Cleveland’s X account until over four hours after @UNDmhockey initially posted about its new coaching hire.

The now-30-year-old Simpson was drafted 92nd overall in the fourth round of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft by the Edmonton Oilers. It wasn’t until April 2014 that he concluded his collegiate career with the Univ. of North Dakota and signed a three-year, entry-level NHL contract. Simpson played his first pro season during the last year of the Oklahoma City Barons before they were relocated to Bakersfield, CA before the 2015-16 season. He would play three total seasons with the Condors, three games up with Edmonton in 2016-17, and a total of 242 AHL games for the Oilers’ AAA affiliates in OKC and Bako.

Then, there was an offer on the table from Columbus. On July 1, 2018, Simpson signed a two-year, two-way NHL contract with the Blue Jackets. Then, he proceeded to become a staple of Cleveland hockey. Donning the alternate captains’ ‘A’ for his second and third seasons with the Monsters, he finally earned the ‘C’ as captain in 2021-22.

Simpson falls just shy of 500 total AHL contests, playing just two games short at 498 in nine seasons. This last season did him no favors, as injuries throughout limited Simpson to just 29 games in 2022-23. In spite of reduced ice time, his efforts and contributions off the ice remained unwavering. Simpson was named the winner of Cleveland’s IOA/American Specialty AHL Man of the Year for his “outstanding contributions to the Cleveland community during the 2022-23 season”.

TOMMY CROSS

It was assumed that Springfield Thunderbirds defenseman Tommy Cross was hanging up his skates after Springfield’s blowout 7-1 loss to Hartford on April 21. Freshly eliminated from postseason play, Cross skated around the ice, shaking hands with players and referees alike. Springfield broadcaster Ryan Smith even acknowledged on-air the possibility of Cross’ career concluding that very evening.

Like Simpson, Cross had battled injuries through the 2022-23 season, trying to come back at the end of the regular season and into the playoffs in an effort to make a difference. The 33-year-old d-man didn’t help change the Thunderbirds’ destiny, as the 2021-22 Eastern Conference Champions were bounced in the first round this past April. Cross and Springfield made it official on August 4 that he was stepping away from playing professional hockey.

Cross was drafted 35th overall by the Boston Bruins in the second round of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. After playing four collegiate seasons at Boston College, he played his first full season split between AHL Providence and ECHL South Carolina. Then, Cross didn’t look back, playing parts of ten seasons between Providence, Cleveland, and Springfield in the AHL (with three regular season contests and one playoff game for Boston, to boot).

A natural leader, Tommy Cross was captain in Providence (three seasons), alternate captain in Cleveland (one season), and alternate captain/captain in Springfield (one season each). Every year the AHL Calder Cup Playoffs were held (minus 2019-20 and 2020-21), Cross and his teammates qualified. Again, sharing similarity with Simpson, Cross also won the IOA/American Specialty AHL Man of the Year, but with Providence in both 2017 and 2018.

The final stat line for Cross stands at 56 goals and 174 assists for 230 total points in 588 AHL games played. He has made two Eastern Conference Finals, once with Providence (2016-17) and once with Springfield (2021-22), advancing to the Calder Cup Finals during the latter run. Cross also stands as the P-Bruins franchise leader in games played (380) and third in assists (108).