After 13 seasons, defenseman Justin Braun has officially announced his retirement from the NHL.
Braun basically said it before and after the Flyers’ 5-4 overtime victory over Chicago on April 13th, but today he officially has hung up his skates.
The 36-year-old right-handed defender was drafted by the San Jose Sharks in the 7th round of the 2007 NHL Draft. He spent 4 seasons at the University of Massachusetts, helping lead the Minutemen to their first NCAA Tournament appearance as a freshman, and played 3 games for the AHL’s Worcester Sharks before making his NHL debut with San Jose on November 26th, 2010 against Vancouver.
Braun stabilized himself as a steady, stay-at-home defender in San Jose. As a Shark, Braun helped lead the club to the 2011 Pacific Divison title and most notably the 2016 Stanley Cup Final. Braun was part of a very solid defense corps at the time that included Brent Burns, Marc-Édouard Vlasic, Brendan Dillon, and Dylan DeMelo.
The 2017-18 season saw Braun record career-highs in assists (28) and points (33), and he also scored 5 goals, a personal best that stood until 2021-22 when he scored 6 with the Flyers and Rangers.
After 9 seasons in teal, Braun was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers for a 2019 third-round pick and a 2020 second-round pick on June 18th, 2019.
Braun became part of a revitalized group in Philadelphia that included another veteran newcomer in Matt Niskanen to support players like Ivan Provorov, Shayne Gostisbehere, Travis Sanheim, and Phil Myers.
Braun helped the Flyers reach the 2020 Eastern Conference Semifinals for the first time since 2012 in his first year with the team in the Toronto bubble, before the Flyers bowed out to the New York Islanders in 7 games after mounting a furious comeback in the series.
The Minneapolis, Minnesota native spent another season and a half with Philadelphia before being traded to the New York Rangers for a 2023 third-round pick at the 2022 trade deadline. He went on to play in 8 regular season games and 19 Stanley Cup Playoffs games as the Rangers made a run to the Eastern Conference Finals before losing to Tampa Bay.
Braun returned to the Flyers on a one-year contract in the summer but was not dealt at the deadline this time around.
Justin Braun ends his NHL career with 34 goals, 165 assists, 199 points, 1,080 hits, 1,314 blocked shots, and 317 penalty minutes across 842 regular season contests. He also recorded 3 goals, 13 assists, 16 points, 176 hits, 231 blocked shots, and 48 penalty minutes in 119 games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
