1000-game NHL veteran Derick Brassard comes out of retirement, signs new contract

Former NHL forward Derick Brassard has decided to continue his professional career, coming out of retirement and signing a contract in Switzerland.

He's signed with Geneve-Servette HC in the Swiss National League, and the news was first reported by Nicolas St-Pierre of the «Dans le Vestiaire» podcast.

Brassard hasn't played since 2022-23 with the Ottawa Senators, but suffered a broken right fibula that caused him to miss the entire following season; he eventually had to call it a career.

But now, it appears as though he's healthy enough to resume playing.

Brassard was taken with the sixth overall pick in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft by the Columbus Blue Jackets, with whom he would spend the first several years of his NHL career.

But he would be traded to the New York Rangers in a blockbuster trade in April of 2013 with Derek Dorsett, John Moore, and a sixth-round pick in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft for Marian Gaborik. After playing a full year with the Rangers, they re-signed him to a five year contract with an AAV (average annual value) of $5 million.

Brassard would play in a Rangers sweater until 2016 when he was traded to the Ottawa Senators for Mika Zibanejad. He then helped the Senators beat the Rangers in the 2017 postseason en route to an appearance in Game 7 of the ECF against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Since then, Brassard became a journeyman and played for several teams including the Pittsburgh Penguins, Florida Panthers, Colorado Avalanche, New York Islanders, Arizona Coyotes and Philadelphia Flyers.

He also had a second tenure with the Senators during which he suffered the injury that forced his first retirement.

In 1,013 career NHL games, Brassard has 545 points (215G, 330A).