
National Hockey League defenseman Justin Schultz of Kelowna, British Columbia has retired at the age of 34 according to the Associated Press on Wednesday. He spent 12 seasons in the NHL with the Edmonton Oilers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals, and Seattle Kraken.
In 745 regular season games, Schultz had 71 goals and 253 assists for 324 points. He was a -57 with 198 penalty minutes, 125 power-play points, 17 game-winning goals, 1151 shots on goal, one faceoff win, 904 blocked shots, 410 hits, 182 takeaways and 401 giveaways. The faceoff win came on January 20, 2015 in a 5-4 Oilers win over the Washington Capitals.
This past season in 2023-24, Schultz had seven goals and 19 assists for 26 points in 70 games with the Kraken. He was a -23 with 22 penalty minutes, 10 power-play points, two game-winning goals, 100 shots on goal, 68 blocked shots, 26 hits, 17 takeaways and 12 giveaways. Schultz’s first game-winning goal came on December 29, 2023 in a 2-1 Kraken win over the Philadelphia Flyers. Schultz scored from Yanni Gourde of Saint-Narcisse, Quebec and Oliver Bjorkstrand at 2:35 of overtime. Schultz’s second game-winning goal came on February 22, 2024 in a 5-2 Kraken win over the Vancouver Canucks. Schultz scored from Jordan Eberle of Regina, Saskatchewan and Brian Dumoulin at 13:29 of the second period which put Seattle up 3-2 at the time.
Schultz also won two Stanley Cups with the Penguins. They came in 2016 and 2017. This season Schultz played eight games for Lugano in the Swiss League and had six assists before being released.