Deryk Engelland retired from hockey on Tuesday, after an 11-year career spanning three teams. He most recently playing with the Vegas Golden Knights. Engelland will remain with the organization as the Special Assistant to the Owner.
For your service on the ice. For being a hero in our community.
Congratulations on your retirement and thank you Deryk Engelland for a great hockey career! #VegasBorn pic.twitter.com/hsQr16Kass
— 🏆 – Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) December 22, 2020
Deryk Engelland Retires, Remains with the Organization
Engelland played for 11 years with three teams, including the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Calgary Flames, and ending with Vegas. During his three-year tenure with the Golden Knights, Engelland played significant minutes. In 202 games played, he scored eight goals and had 33 assists for 41 points. He had the fourth highest average time on ice of the Vegas skaters with about 20 minutes. Over his 11-year career, he played 671 games, scored 30 times, had 97 assists, combining for 127 points. In the 2017-18 season, Engelland won the Mark Messier Leadership Award, given to the player that exhibits the best leadership.
Engelland will move to an organizational role, serving as the Special Assistant to the Owner within the Vegas Golden Knights Foundation. He will support charitable efforts and help the larger Vegas community, something he has always done throughout his career.
What This Means for the Future
While Engelland is staying with the organization, his presence will be not be felt on the ice. This means other defencemen will have to step up. Luckily, Vegas has a plethora of them. Newly acquired star Alex Pietrangelo will be in the top pairing and give a boost to the defensive core. Shea Theodore and Alec Martinez are two fantastic options on the blue line. They are both experienced players as well as defensive experts. On the back end, Zach Whitecloud has been an incredible young player for Vegas. Under the guidance of more experienced players, he will grow and develop into a top-pairing defenceman. While losing Engelland is a blow to the Golden Knights, they have plenty of options to replace him.
