Former top-five pick retires from NHL

Ladd, 37, made the announcement via a Sunday statement on X.

“The time has come for my next chapter,” wrote Ladd in the statement. “When I was a kid I never thought I had a chance to make a living playing hockey. There was my love for the game. I loved being a part of a team, I loved competing, I loved the next chance to win, I loved the challenge, I loved the escape of immersing myself in the moment, I loved the feeling of belonging, I loved the confidence it gave me, I loved proving people wrong.”

“I’ll be forever grateful for how the game shaped me as [a] person and the people it brought into my life,” concluded Ladd.

Ladd spent parts of 16 seasons in the NHL from 2005-22 with the Carolina Hurricanes, Chicago Blackhawks, Atlanta Thrashers, Winnipeg Jets, New York Islanders and Arizona Coyotes. He won two Stanley Cups during his career, one with the Hurricanes in 2006 and one with the Blackhawks in 2010. From 2010-16, he served as the captain of the Thrashers and subsequently the Jets after their relocation, becoming the first captain of the current era of the Jets.

Over the course of his career, Ladd played 1,001 games, with 256 goals, 294 assists and 550 points in that span. His best season came in 2014-15, when he managed to get 62 points in 81 games, although he did also score a career-high 29 goals in 2010-11. In 65 playoff games, he had nine goals, nine assists and 18 points.

Ladd was the fourth overall pick of the Hurricanes in 2004 and spent parts of three seasons with the team after the 2004-05 lockout before he was dealt to the Blackhawks for Tuomo Ruutu in 2008. He spent parts of three seasons with the Blackhawks before he was again dealt, this time to the Thrashers in 2010 for Ivan Vishnevskiy and a second-round pick. He then spent parts of six seasons with the Thrashers and Jets before he was dealt back to the Blackhawks at the deadline with Jay Harrison and Matt Fraser for a first-round pick and Marko Dano. He then signed with the Islanders in free agency to a seven-year deal and after several seasons of struggling to stay in the lineup, he was dealt to the Coyotes – as a cap dump along with two second-round picks and a third-round pick – where he played out the remainder of his contract.