Late last night, news broke that Nolan Patrick has officially decided on retiring from hockey. Drafted second overall by the Flyers just six years ago in 2017, it's a tragically early end to his career.
In his last two seasons specifically, Patrick was plagued by repeated head injuries, and was dealing with long term concussions symptoms. In his last two seasons, he only played 25 and 52 games respectively.
Patrick only ended up playing 222 career NHL games, scoring a total of 32 goals and 77 points. Needless to say, it's a far cry from the clear potential he had when he was drafted second overall.
Through his short career, Patrick was traded three times. He spent time in the Nashville Predators organization, but never played a game before being traded to the Vegas Golden Knights, who he last played for in the 2021-22 season. With careers ending far too short like Patrick's, and the recent uptick in dangerous hits to the head, all the signs are present for the NHL to take head injuries more seriously - but they just never will.
