Carolina Hurricanes forward Jesper Fast has been forced to retire with a serious neck injury after 11 seasons in the NHL.
The 33-year-old announced his decision on Monday, saying: “I never took for granted the privilege of playing in the best league in the world.
“I am grateful for all of the teammates, coaches, staff and fans from the Rangers and Hurricanes who made my time in the NHL so special, and for my family for everything they did to help me achieve and live my dream.”
Fast was last seen on the ice in April 2024 when he was cross-checked from behind into the boards by Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Erik Gudbranson.
To make matters worse, that game didn’t have an impact on the standings as Carolina was already playoff-bound and rested numerous players.
Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour spoke about how the incident made him feel ‘sick’ and during the team’s end-of-year interviews a month later, Fast wore a neck brace when speaking to reporters.
Last August, the Hurricanes announced Fast had undergone neck surgery and would miss the entirety of the 2024-25 campaign.
WATCH: Jesper Fast’s OT winner in Game 2 vs New York Islanders 2023
Fast enjoyed 11 successful NHL seasons with Hurricanes and New York Rangers
Fast was selected in the sixth round of the 2010 NHL Draft by the Rangers and after spells in Sweden and the American Hockey League, he made his debut for New York in October 2013.
He broke through during the latter stages of that campaign, playing all three of the Rangers’ final regular season games and going on to record his first career NHL playoff point with an assist in Game 1 of the Metropolitan Division Semifinal against the Philadelphia Flyers.
Fast impressed in the 2014-15 preseason and made New York’s roster out of training camp, scoring his first NHL regular season goal on November 29 – also against the Flyers, three days before his 23rd birthday.
He finished the regular season with 14 points (six goals, eight assists) in 58 games and was promoted to a top-six forward role by the time the playoffs rolled around.
Fast tallied a goal and three assists in the seven-game playoff series against the Washington Capitals and scored twice in Game 3 of the against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference Finals.
It marked the first multi-goal game of his career, becoming the first Rangers rookie to do so since Brandon Dubinsky in 2008 and the first with a multi-goal playoff game on the road since Mike Ridley in 1986.
He signed for the Hurricanes as a free agent in October 2020 and scored the overtime and series-winning goal against the New Jersey Devils in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals later that season.
