Veteran NHL forward Radim Vrbata officially retires from hockey

Radim Vrbata scored his first 3 goals as a Panther and earned his 7th career hattrick Thursday against the Ducks.

Radim Vrbata said in April he figured his playing days were over and on Monday the longtime NHL forward officially called it a career.

Vrbata released the following statement via his agent.

The 37-year-old spent his 16-season NHL career split between the Avalanche, Hurricanes, Blackhawks, Coyotes, Lightning, Canucks and Panthers. Approximately half of his NHL career was spent in a Coyotes uniform.

Vrbata registered 284 goals and 339 assists for 623 points in 1,057 career NHL games after he was selected late in the seventh round of the 1999 NHL Draft. He ranks fourth in points and games played among those from his draft class behind three potential Hall of Famers in Henrik Sedin, Daniel Sedin and Henrik Zetterberg.

Vrbata also represented his native Czech Republic at various tournaments throughout the years, winning a world juniors gold medal in 2001 and a world championship in 2005.

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