After Career Earnings of Whopping $72,148,171, Boston Bruins Star Forward David Krejci Bids Adieu to the Rink

NHL 2023–24 is just around the corner, and hockey fans everywhere are resting up in anticipation of the next season. But dramatic transactions and the departure of several popular players from their clubs have kept fans up at night during this preseason break. The Boston Bruins, who had a fantastic 2022–23 season and established a number of records last season, said their last goodbyes to their great center David Krejci today.

The NHL’s announcement of David Krejci’s retirement on their official website caused the news to spread like wildfire among fans. The Czech great, who has been with the team since his days as an NHL draft pick, is retiring after 16 seasons and a whopping hockey fortune of $72,148,171, but not before he addressed his adoring supporters.

A warm kind of happy ending on the cold rink

After 16 seasons with the Boston Bruins in the NHL, David Krejci, the club’s ninth-leading scorer, announced his retirement on Monday. He’s played with a lot of players, watched others retire, and lifted the Stanley Cup in 2011. His whole career has been spectacular, and his last season with the club was no exception, despite the disappointing elimination from the playoffs. In his final words for the ice rink, he told the world, “After 15 full NHL seasons I have decided to retire from the best league in the world.”

ALSO READ – 24 Years After Retirement, NHL Legend Wayne Gretzky Shares Heartfelt Snippet From Final Game in the Rink

The Czech NHL great also extended his gratitude to Bruins president Cam Neely, general manager Don Sweeney, and the Jacobs family, owners of the Boston Bruins, for allowing him the time to announce his retirement from the sport. The 37-year-old center also reflected on how he “had no idea” at the time of his 2004 NHL draft that he would be working with “such incredible and driven people.” Krejci also said, “I have made so many great friendships throughout the organization,” in his farewell statement, which the NHL posted online. It further stated, “You have always been there for me whenever I needed something and I will always be here for you.”

In 2021–22, the Czech icon skated for HC Olomouc in front of his friends and family. In his final season in the NHL, Krejci helped the Boston Bruins to 56 points (16 goals, 40 assists) through 70 games, plus a further four points (one goal, three assists) in four playoff contests. He retired after a brilliant career, but his accomplishments will forever be etched into the NHL ice.

The stellar career of David Krejci

In the 2004 NHL Draft, the Boston Bruins picked David Krejci in the second round (No. 63 overall). The talented forward was plucked from the Czech Republic’s HC Kladno junior program, where he had established himself as an unstoppable force on the ice. Even though he didn’t have the best starts to his NHL seasons, his performance eventually became famous all over the world.

Among his many accomplishments is leading the League in playoff scoring with 23 points (12 goals, 11 assists) in 25 games during the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs. In Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Krejci scored a hat trick. He became the first Bruins player since Cam Neely in 1991 to record a hat trick in a postseason game. The talented center not only won the Stanley Cup that year, but he also appeared in all three championship games. The Boston Bruins extended his contract by six years on September 4, 2014, in response to his extraordinary play. During the 2021–22 season, the great striker returned to his home country to play with HC Olomouc. The next season, he returned to the NHL and signed a one-year deal with the Bruins for what would turn out to be his last season of professional hockey.

WATCH THIS STORY – NHL Goat Wayne Gretzky’s Daughter and 2X Majors Winner Dustin Johnson’s Wife Shared an Intriguing Update Hours After Husband’s London Contention