Hurricane Forward May Retire In The Middle of The Playoffs

Ondrej Kase was always a long shot to make it to the NHL. The 205th pick in the 2014 draft defied all the odds and made the NHL and not just as a bottom 6 grinder but as a budding star.

In his second season, Kase scored at a 25-goal and 47-point pace and many were expecting Kase to take a massive jump in his 3rd NHL season. However, injuries took the wheel and derailed Kase's career.

Since his 2nd season, Kase has had only 1 season with 50 games played and the rest have been less. This is due to Kase's proneness to get concussions.

Concussions, like other injuries, are more likely to happen once they happen the first time and become more and more likely the more and more they occur.

This season, Kase has only played one game and after that went on the Injured Reserve due to the concussion he received. This is quite unfortunate because Kase was looking to build on his generally healthy 2021-22.

Today Hurricanes GM Don Waddell said this about Kase:

This is unfortunate but health is more important than the game, especially brain health. The negative side effects are too much with brain injuries and even though Kase may not want to, he may have to retire.