Will the 2025-26 season be Jonathan Quick’s last dance in the NHL?
Quick has not hinted at any sort of retirement, but he signed a one-year contract extension, so he’ll be an unrestricted free agent next offseason, setting himself up for retirement if he chooses to.
Toward the end of his tenure with the Los Angeles Kings and through his brief time with the Vegas Golden Knights, it seemed as if retirement was certainly looming for Quick since his individual game began to take a dip.
However, he signed with the New York Rangers during the summer of 2023, and everything changed.
Quick revitalized his career in New York, and over the past two seasons, he’s found a solidified role as the Rangers' backup goalie under Igor Shesterkin.
This past season, the 39-year-old goalie showed some signs of Father Time catching up to him, but for the most part, he proved that he can still play at a high level in a backup role.
Rangers Rank 10th In The Hockey News’ Exclusive Summer Splash SeriesThe Hockey News’ exclusive summer splash series evaluating the off-seasons of every NHL team is into the final stretch. To put these rankings together, we’ve focused the spotlight on every franchise’s off-season additions, departures, hirings and firings. And we’ve labelled each team as belonging to one of three categories – teams that have improved, teams that essentially stayed the same, and teams that have regressed.
Given his age, retirement has to be at the back of everyone’s mind in terms of predicting Quick’s future after this upcoming season, and nobody knows what he’s truly thinking.
Right now, Quick still has the motivation to play hockey, and fans should continue to cherish every moment he’s in the NHL before he ultimately decides to hang up the skates for good.