Former first-round pick Beau Bennett announces retirement from NHL

Free agent winger Beau Bennett has decided to call it a career, announcing that he has retired. The 29-year-old didn’t play this season and in his announcement, he cited injuries as a reason for the decision.

Bennett spent parts of six seasons in the NHL after being a first-round pick of the Penguins (20th overall) back in 2010. While he showed some flashes of offensive upside over 129 games with Pittsburgh, he was never able to lock down a full-time roster spot and eventually was moved to New Jersey in 2016. He had a career year with the Devils that season but was still non-tendered, eventually signing with the Blues as a free agent but spending most of 2017-18 in the minors. Bennett was last on an NHL contract in 2019-20 with Arizona. Despite finishing fourth in scoring with AHL Tucson, he didn’t get an opportunity with the Coyotes.

In the end, Bennett wound up with 200 career NHL games played, tallying 20 goals and 44 assists.  While that’s not a great return from a first-round selection, there were eight others taken in the first round that have less NHL experience than he does and he sits 22nd in scoring among first-round picks from that draft class. Instead of attempting a comeback to try to add to his point total, he’s moving on from playing and will now work with amateur and youth hockey players.