Defenseman Justin Braun retires from NHL after 13 seasons

Braun played the 2022-23 season for the Philadelphia Flyers, scoring two points in 51 games. He was originally selected in the seventh round of the 2007 NHL Draft by the San Jose Sharks. As is the case for most seventh-round picks, the odds of making the NHL are slim at best from the get-go.

Of the 30 players selected in the seventh round of the 2007 NHL Draft, only two played over 500 NHL games, and only four played over a hundred. Just five of 30 played a single NHL game in their careers. Aside from Braun, the Toronto Maple Leafs drafted Carl Gunnarsson that year who went on to play 629 NHL games for the Maple Leafs and St. Louis Blues.

Additionally, Carson McMillan, Frazer McLaren and Paul Postma played NHL games. Postma was a rare Atlanta Thrashers' draft day victory, ultimately playing his entire 205-game career for the Thrasher/Winnipeg Jets organization.

The fact that Braun beat the odds and made himself a long NHL career is a testament to his work ethic and determination. An American, he decided to go the college route on the road to professional hockey. He played four seasons for UMass-Amherst, becoming one of their top players in the final couple of years there.

During the 2010-11 season, he earned his way into the Sharks lineup, playing 28 games and scoring 11 points. He became one of the best shutdown defensemen of the 2010s and was a key member to a number of long playoff runs.

Braun appeared in 119 NHL playoff games in his career and made the Stanley Cup finals with the Sharks in 2015-16, but fell short of winning the Stanley Cup. He also made the conference finals two more times, once with the Sharks in 2018-19 and once with the New York Rangers in 2021-22.

Braun played 842 NHL games in his career and scored 34 goals and 199 points for the Sharks, Flyers, and Rangers.