Mark Letestu announced his retirement from professional hockey. Letestu, a 5’10 right-shot centre spent 12 seasons with four different teams in the NHL. He declared his retirement at the age of 35.
The Athletic: Mark Letestu, aka “Mr. Utility,” has retired after 12 #NHL seasons as a jack-of-all-trades forward with #CBJ, #LetsGoPens, #LetsGoOilers and #GoJetsGo
“I got a lot of time out of being a short, slow guy in a fast man’s league.”https://t.co/l4h2pehSNi pic.twitter.com/viPzud4cso
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) December 27, 2020
Mark Letestu Retires From the NHL
Over his 12-year career, Letestu played for four different organizations. Signed as an undrafted free agent to the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2007, he would then go on to play for the Columbus Blue Jackets, Edmonton Oilers, and Winnipeg Jets. He spent more time with the Blue Jackets than any other team. Throughout his career, Letestu tallied 93 goals and 117 assists for a total of 210 points, in 567 games played. Touted as a jack-of-all-trades, Letestu had a solid career averaging just over 17 points a season.
Letestu’s big break came during the 2009-10 season when he was playing with the Penguins AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Injuries to Sidney Crosby, Jordan Staal, and Evgeni Malkin allowed Letestu to make the 23-man roster. He took this chance to show the Penguins he had what it took to stay in the NHL. The very next season was Letestu’s best in the league. He posted 14 goals and 13 assists in 64 games with Pittsburgh.
Letestu played only seven games with the Winnipeg Jets in the 2019-20 season. Put on injured reserve Letestu due to a heart virus, he was out for six months. Just as he was about to return, the entire league shut down. As the Jets were knocked out of playoff contention by the Calgary Flames in the best-of-five Stanley Cup Qualifiers. Letestu did not get to make an appearance in the official 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Letestu will be remembered as “Mr. Utility.” The versatile forward could do just about everything. Right-wing, centre, special teams, Letestu fit everywhere, whenever you needed him to. Letestu had the incredible ability to shape his game around some of the biggest names in the league, including Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid.
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