Defenseman retires after 288 NHL games, but one team changed everything

The 37-year-old undrafted defenseman announced the decision, ending a 14-year professional career.

Hunt turned pro on an AHL contract with the Chicago Wolves out of Bemidji State University, not an entry-level NHL deal. Six seasons later he was still a call-up, splitting 2016-17 between the St. Louis Blues, a waiver claim by the Nashville Predators, and the American Hockey League.

He signed with the Vegas Golden Knights on July 1, 2017, and everything changed. Hunt played 45 games and scored 18 points for a first-year team that reached the Stanley Cup Final.

Vegas did not draft him or trade for him. They signed a 28-year-old free agent nobody else had prioritized.

That season began a six-year run as a full-time NHL player with Vegas, the Minnesota Wild, the Vancouver Canucks and the Colorado Avalanche. It was also the stretch in which he earned the first one-way contracts of his career.

The 5-foot-9 blueliner did not suddenly get better at 29. The league simply got bigger.

Gary Bettman confirmed on June 23 that the NHL opened a six-month process to evaluate a 33rd franchise in Houston or Austin, backed by the Friedkin family at roughly $3.5 billion.

That timeline is being measured in arenas and expansion fees. The quieter consequence is 23 new roster spots and dozens of pro contracts landing in a league where undersized AHL scorers are usually the last men waiting.

Hunt won World Championship gold with Canada in 2023 and finished his career with Vaasan Sport in Finland's Liiga.

He is proof that expansion does not only move stars, it manufactures NHL careers that would otherwise never exist.

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