NHL

Former Rangers center Derick Brassard retires after 16 NHL seasons

Derick Brassard is hanging up his skates.

The former Rangers center, 36, announced his retirement from the NHL on Sunday after playing 16 seasons with 10 different teams, including one year with the Islanders.

Acquired during the 2012-13 season from the Blue Jackets as part of the Marian Gaborik trade, Brassard played parts of four seasons for the Rangers, scoring 69 goals with 105 assists in 254 regular-season games for the Blueshirts.

He reached the height of his powers on Broadway, where he showed a penchant for big playoff performances.

Former Rangers center Derick Brassard has retired from the NHL after 16 seasons. Christopher Pasatieri
Derick Brassard celebrates after scoring one of his three goals during the Rangers’ Game 6 Eastern Conference Final win over the Lightning in 2015. Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post

Brassard recorded 18 goals and 26 assists in 59 playoff games for the Rangers.

His most memorable performance was in Game 6 of the 2015 Eastern Conference Final against the Lightning in Tampa, where he scored a hat trick and added two assists in a 7-3 win to force a Game 7 at MSG, where the Rangers were eliminated.

During the first round against the Capitals in 2013, he scored the lone goal in a Game 6, a 1-0 win, to force a Game 7, where he notched two assists in a 5-0 victory.

He assisted on what turned out to be the game-winning goal by Benoit Pouliot in Game 7 of a first-round win over the Flyers in 2014.

When the Rangers fell behind 3-1 in the ensuing series against the Penguins, Brassard had two goals and an assist in a Game 5 win and scored a goal in Game 6 before the Blueshirts rallied to win the series.

After the Rangers were bounced in the first round by the Penguins in 2016, the Rangers traded Brassard to the Senators for Mika Zibanejad.

When those two teams met in the 2017 second round, Brassard scored the tying goal in Game 5 with 1:26 left in regulation before the Senators won in overtime to take a 3-2 series lead. They then eliminated the Rangers at MSG in Game 6.

Derick Brassard of the Senators celebrates after scoring a late tying goal against the Rangers in Game 5 of the second round in 2017. Anthony J. Causi
Derick Brassard with the Islanders in 2019. Anthony J Causi

Brassard, who finished his career with 215 goals and 330 assists in 1,013 regular-season games, bounced around between the Penguins, Panthers and Avalanche before landing with the Islanders for the 2019-20 season, scoring 10 goals and 22 assists in 66 regular-season games before notching two goals and six assists in 18 playoff games as the Isles made a run to the conference final in the COVID bubble.

He then played for the Coyotes, Flyers and Oilers before finishing up with a return to Ottawa for the 2022-23 season.