Reports indicate the Senators are extremely interested in Boston goalie Linus Ullmark Former Senators centre Derrick Brassard has announced his retirement from the NHL after 16 seasons, including two separate stints with Ottawa. Brassard broke the news in an interview with LaPresse.ca. [https://www.lapresse.ca/sports/hockey/2024-06-23/derick-brassard/le-hockey-est-termine-pour-moi.php] Brassard returned for one final season with the Senators in 2022-23 and played 62 games – not bad for a veteran who returned to Ottawa on a professional tryout. He received his silver stick with the Senators on March 2nd, 2023, for playing in 1,000 NHL games. He scored twice that night in a 5-3 Senators victory. Unfortunately, less than a month later, on March 30, 2023, Brassard suffered a fractured fibula against Philadelphia, which would be his final NHL game. The Gatineau native didn't play at all this season, partly because he was still rehabbing to start the year and partly because the Sens were in cap hell after the signing of Vladimir Tarasenko. "I probably would have played one more season," Brassard told La Presse. "I was in D.J. Smith's plans, I think. But it took me eight months to recover. Arriving in November, with the signing of Vladimir Tarasenko and the salary situation of the Senators, it would not have worked. I would be able to play right now, but at my age, after missing a full year, it would be impossible to come back. "Hockey is over for me." Brassard's first stint with the Senators lasted two seasons, during which the Senators reached a conference final in 2016-17. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNCHHSgS6EE[/embed] In hindsight, the 2016 deal to acquire Brassard from the New York Rangers was a lemon, not because of Brassard, but because the deal cost the Senators 23-year-old centre Mika Zibanejad, who later became a star on Broadway. As one-sided as that deal seems now, it's mind-boggling to think the Senators actually had to sweeten it by giving the Rangers a second-rounder. After a season and a half, the Sens quickly went from contender to pretender and began a firesale. Brassard was traded to Pittsburgh in a three-way deal with Vegas that saw the Sens come away with a first-rounder (Jacob Bernard-Docker) and goalie Filip Gustavsson. Brassard was drafted by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the first round of the 2006 NHL Draft. He could easily have been nicknamed Suitcase Brass, playing with ten teams throughout his career: the Blue Jackets, Rangers, Senators, Penguins, Avalanche, Panthers, Islanders, Coyotes, Oilers, and Flyers. The 36-year-old was Ottawa's Masterton Trophy nominee last season and was so popular with younger teammates that some were seen still wearing his 1000th-game T-shirt around the dressing room this season. Brassard finished his career with 215 goals and 545 points in 1,013 career regular-season games. Brassard was briefly one of the part-owners of the Gatineau Olympiques from 2020 to 2023. He told La Presse he'd like to stay in hockey, but it may not be in the cards right now with a new baby at home.
