*Photo from NHL.com*
After playing 12 seasons in the NHL, C Zack Smith has announced his retirement, according to Ian Mendes of The Athletic. Smith retires after playing 11 seasons with the Ottawa Senators, and one season with the Chicago Blackhawks. He did not play in the 2021 season.
Smith told Mendes that "There were definitely a bunch of different factors that went into it. And I don't want to sound like I was taking it for granted or that I didn't appreciate the life that hockey has given to me, but my heart wasn't into it the last couple of years. I guess I was a little jaded in some ways. You're playing well and then you learn the business side of it."
The last season Smith played was 2019-2020 with the Blackhawks, scoring 4 goals and adding 7 assists, with a +2 plus/minus in an ATOI of 11:47, playing in 50 regular season games, as the Blackhawks did not qualify for the playoffs. His last game was on February 12, 2020, before undergoing back surgery and being put on LTIR.
Smith said "After having the surgery, it didn't really solve the issues that I was going through. I haven't played a game in a year and a half. And that will be two years in February since I've played an actual NHL game. And it would have been tough to come back after that length of time and get back to the pace, knowing that I probably would have lost a step or two."
In his 12 season NHL career, Smith has 98 goals and 106 assists to his name, with a -46 plus/minus in an ATOI of 14:44, playing in 662 regular season games, although he only played all 82 games just once, in 2013-2014. In 45 career playoff games, Smith has two goals and 7 assists.
Smith is a former 3rd round pick, being chosen by the Senators with the 79th overall pick in 2008, debuting in the 2008-2009 season, although only playing one game. He was a Senator from then until they placed him on waivers in 2018, and then traded to the Blackhawks for Artem Anisimov.
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