It's the end of an era in Nashville.
Pekka Rinne announced his retirement, effectively ending his 15-year career entirely with the team that drafted him.
A pending free agent after this season, he is 38 years old and is coming off of back-to-back seasons where he just... didn't look like himself. The sad decline and fall of every star player is inevitable. And unfortunately, Father Time takes no prisoners.
Rinne holds practically every goaltending record in Predators' franchise history. He led the team in games played (683), starts (667), wins (369), shutouts (60), goals against average (2.43), and saves (17,627). He also leads all Finnish goaltenders in games, starts, wins, and shutouts.
The 369 games won also ties him for 19th all-time with Tom Barrasso, though both are likely going to get passed by Carey Price next season.
Rinne won the Vezina Trophy as the league's best goaltender in 2018 and was a Vezina finalist in three other occasions. This season, he took the King Clancy Memorial Trophy as the player who best exemplified leadership qualities on and off the ice and has made a significant humanitarian contribution to his community.
Originally an 8th round selection in 2004, his draft story should be something of note.
Originally, he was draft-eligible for 2001. He was passed over three times before being selected by the Predators 258th overall in 2004. Janne Kekalainen, the Preds' European scout at that time, saw Rinne playing as a backup for former Minnesota Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom in Finland, and convinced general manager David Poile to give Rinne a chance.
Rinne had nine seasons of where he recorded a 2.50 goals against average or better, and seven seasons where he recorded a .915 save percentage or better. He helped the Preds to ten playoff appearances in his career, and led the team to the Stanley Cup Final in 2017, where he finished with an insane 1.96 GAA and a .930 save percentage in the 22 games played in that playoff run.
If you want to talk about other notable achievements he did, here are some:
He recorded 9 wins in 12 games in February 2009, where he had a 1.72 GAA and a .944 save percentage
He recorded a franchise-record of 7 shutouts in a season on March 14th, 2009.
After returning from a lower-body injury that he suffered in the 2011 season opener following a collision with Ducks forward Troy Bodie, Rinne made his return on December 23rd, 2010, and then proceeded to go on brick wall mode in the month of January 2011, with a 1.71 GAA and a .946 save percentage.
He helped the Preds to their first Stanley Cup Playoff series victory in franchise history in the 2011 season, beating the Ducks in 6 games.
Rinne was one of the finalists for the Vezina Trophy that 2011 season, and also finished 4th in the Hart Trophy voting.
With a shutout over the Ducks on October 29th, 2011, he set a new franchise record for shutouts, with 22.
During the 2012 season, he led the NHL in wins, shots against, saves, and games played, leading to him being named a finalist for the Vezina Trophy that season.
On May 2014, he was named to the All-Star Team and was selected as the MVP of the 2014 IIHF World Championship, where Finland claimed the silver medal.
On March 14th, 2015, he became the fastest goaltender, in terms of games played, to record 30 wins in 39 games since the NHL adopted the shootout, and only the 3rd goalie in the Expansion Era to achieve this feat. He was not only a Vezina Trophy finalist that year, but also was a nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy.
Rinne participated in the 2015 IIHF World Championship, where he was named the tournament's best goaltender, and set a new IIHF record for minutes played without allowing a goal.
On March 16th, 2017, he became the 67th goaltender to play at least 500 career NHL games.
He led the Predators to becoming the first ever 8th-seeded team in all of major North American sports history to sweep the top-seeded team in a conference.
On November 24th, 2017, when the Preds defeated the Blues, 2-0, Rinne recorded his 45th shutout of his career, making him the all-time leader among Finnish-born goaltenders.
On February 22nd, 2018, Rinne became the 34th goaltender to record 300 career NHL wins after a 7-1 win over the Sharks. At the time of recording his 300th win, he had the 3rd-highest win percentage of all goalies with at least 300 wins, at 54.34%, behind only Martin Brodeur, and Marc-Andre Fleury.
Among the two times when he signed extensions of at least $5M per year, the first time being a 7-year, $49M contract on November 3rd, 2011, and the second time being a two-year, $10M contract on November 3rd, 2018, he recorded shutouts, the former being a 35-save shutout against the Coyotes, and the latter being a 26-save shutout against the Bruins. Coincidentally, it was on his birthday when he signed those contracts and recorded those shutouts.
On January 9th, 2020, he became just the 12th goalie in NHL history and the second goalie in Predators history to score a goal.
In his final game of his career, on May 10th, 2021, he posted a 30-save shutout to record his 369th career win, tying Barrasso for 19th all-time, and his 60th career shutout, passing Evgeni Nabokov for 19th all-time on that list as well.
While Rinne was a pending UFA this offseason, he didn't get a lot of interest from other teams, and, realistically, the Preds would be the only team that would want to sign him at the stage of his career that he was in.
Rinne announcing his retirement also signifies that the Preds are turning to rising star Juuse Saros to be the new franchise goaltender for the Preds. They also have first round draft pick Yaroslav Askarov in the mix as well.
But for those who knew Rinne best, he will be known for his leadership, humanitarian efforts, his likability, and his friendship with his teammates.
Former Predators head coach and current Islanders head coach Barry Trotz said that Rinne's #35 jersey will be the first retired jersey number in Predators franchise history.
Rinne also posted a retirement letter on The Players Tribune.
Congratulations on an outstanding career, Pekka. Best of luck in retirement.
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