Jonathan Quick said Monday night’s game against the Florida Panthers will be his last in the NHL, bringing a 19-season career to a close on the ice before his official retirement at the end of the 2025-26 season. The 40-year-old goaltender, who spent the past three seasons with the New York Rangers, said he is looking forward to having his family in the building for one more night.
“Obviously, the past few years, very lucky to be part of this organization and wear this jersey, but tonight will be my last game in the league,” Quick said. He added that his wife flew in with the kids and that his parents would also be in attendance as he tried “to get one more win here.”
Quick’s final appearance comes after a career that split sharply between a long run in Los Angeles and a late stretch in New York. He spent 16 of his 19 NHL seasons with the Los Angeles Kings, won two Stanley Cups as their starter and took home the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2012. After winning the Stanley Cup with the Vegas Golden Knights in 2023, he signed with the Rangers and has since served as Igor Shesterkin’s backup.
In 75 games for New York, Quick went 35-29-6 with a.911 save percentage and a 2.46 goals-against average. He said the decision to retire was not made in the moment. He had made up his mind quite a while ago and told Chris Drury and Mike Sullivan so the team could plan around it.
That planning already mattered this month, when Quick missed seven games with an upper-body injury and Dylan Garand stepped in. Garand, who has been with the Rangers since being called up on Mar. 20, started two games and went 1-0-1 with a 1.44 goals-against average and a.954 save percentage.
For Kopitar and the Kings, the timing only sharpens the sense of an era closing around one of the last active links to their championship core. Quick leaves with the numbers that made him one of the defining goaltenders of his generation, and with a final game that gives his family, his teammates and his former clubs one last chance to watch him before the league chapter ends.