Carter announces retirement, scores memorable goal in final NHL game

ELMONT, N.Y. -- Jeff Carter has been a lightning rod for criticism in Pittsburgh over the last few years as his career has wound down.

That's fair. He never quite lived up to his last contract extension, a two-year deal that carried a $3.125 million cap hit. Sometimes that "criticism" from fans turned into vitriol and crossed the line into personal attacks. 

That wasn't fair.

Carter has accomplished a lot in his career: Two Stanley Cups with the Kings. Two All-Star Game selections. An Olympic gold medal. An AHL Calder Cup. A World Junior gold medal. 

He's played 19 NHL seasons, scored 442 goals, recorded 851 points. The Penguins' 5-4 loss to the Islanders here in Elmont, N.Y. on Wednesday was his 1,321st -- and final -- NHL game.

"Yeah, this was it," Carter said with a hint of a smile after the game. "I kind of knew coming in at the start of the year that this would probably be it. I went on, and it was just time. It was a lot of fun. I wish we could have got this one tonight and finished with a win here, but I had a blast."

Carter's last game was a memorable one. Mike Sullivan started Carter at center in a classy move in his final game, then gave him a little boost in ice time throughout the night. The Penguins trailed 4-3 in the third period, with Rickard Rakell, Evgeni Malkin and Valtteri Puustinen netting the Penguins' goals. Sullivan put Carter on the top power play late, and it paid off. Carter's final NHL goal was a redirect off his skate on the power play that tied the game:

"Yeah, that was really nice," Carter said. "Sully put me out there, I knew I wasn't leaving the net. You could tell they were trying to get there every chance they could. Pretty special moment to get one there at the end."

The score didn't hold up -- Simon Homstrom would score the game-winner for the Islanders later in the third -- but the goal was a great moment. Carter's teammates were ecstatic for him. When Carter was named the No. 3 star of the game, all of the Penguins and Islanders players stayed on the ice for the announcement. The Penguins surrounded Carter and met him with stick taps, while the Islanders players lined up to shake his hand.

Carter's family -- including his wife Megan, son Caden and daughter Emersyn -- made the trip to New York. So did Rangers goaltender Jonathan Quick and his family, after Quick and Carter were longtime teammates in Los Angeles.

Megan, Caden and Emersyn were in the Penguins' tunnel for the final buzzer and walked with Carter into the locker room for the last time.

Carter called Caden and Emersyn "one of the things that kept me going" in these last few years. They were frequently at games in their No. 77 jerseys, and he often had them downstairs in the locker room after home games as of late. For his 1,300th game in February, the Penguins surprised Carter on the road with his kids reading the starting lineup:

Carter was still a superstar to his kids toward the end, as made clear by this video Megan shared in January 2023:

Sullivan said back in November of this season that "knocking on the door to the Hall of Fame with what he’s accomplished," and he just might be. The respect the hockey world has for Carter and what he's accomplished is huge, and Wednesday's regular-season finale showed a glimpse of that. When Carter was on the ice during TV timeouts, various Islanders players would skate up to Carter and offer what seemed to be words of respect. At one TV timeout, longtime referee Wes McCauley approached Carter and asked him for a photo, and Carter obliged. The two skated over to the corner of the ice where there was a camera hole, and posed for a photo.

The Penguins, of course, caught Carter on the back end of his storied career. He's not a 40-goal, 80-point guy anymore. He hasn't been for awhile. He's a fourth-line forward, shifting from center to a lesser role on the wing this season. He's a go-to in the faceoff circle, a penalty-killer, and a net-front presence on the second power play unit.

Carter had a OK season this year. He was certainly improved from last season when it came to his defensive play, but his offensive contributions were small -- 11 goals and four assists in 72 games.

"He's had an exceptional career," Lars Eller told me of Carter. "He was able to extend it past his good years and then take on a new role. And I think that's very admirable. Not a lot of players can do that. He was a really good player when he was at his best and won multiple Stanley Cups. And he was still able in his later years to play a meaningful role, and I think it's very admirable. He sets a good example for a lot of players and a lot of ways."

Where Carter's impact was the greatest this season was on his teammates. Even during that tough stretch when Carter found himself a healthy scratch for a few games earlier in the season, Carter was still the consummate professional, and showed up to the rink with a smile on his face and continued to work hard in practices.

Sidney Crosby knows Carter well -- they were teammates together when they won World Junior gold, and they spent years battling on the ice in the Penguins and Flyers rivalry. He couldn't have spoken more highly of what it was like to be teammates with Carter at this level.

"Honestly, he's the same guy that I remember meeting when I was 16," Crosby said on Wednesday. "You know, just a lot of poise. Great guy in the room, he brings it every single night. He's had an amazing career. When you look at everything that he's accomplished, he's basically won everything possible. He had a Calder Cup early, just to get that out of the way. He's got a pretty amazing resume. It's been a lot of fun, and it's been an honor to play with him."

Carter's also had a great impact on the Penguins' younger forwards who have come up in recent years in just serving as a kind of role model. Puustinen recalled his first-ever recall two years ago, when he played one game on Carter's wing.

"I was nervous so much when I came here," Puustinen told me. "Then I come into breakfast in the morning, and Carter is there. And I say first, 'I don't talk too much English.' But he understood that and asked me sometimes about Finland. I have a really, really good feeling with him. He played 19 years? (Takes off hat) I take my hat and say thank you to him."

It's stories like those from young players over the years that make it clear that Carter could have a front office role if he wants one -- maybe something in a player development role like Matt Cullen or Tom Kostopoulos got post-retirement, or  more of an advisory role like the one Trevor Daley has. Sullivan would certainly like to have him on board.

"I think Carts could do whatever he wants in hockey operations," Sullivan said. "He's a really intelligent guy. I looked at him the last couple of years almost as an extension of our coaching staff. He reminds me of the Matt Cullen types when Cully was playing on our team. A voice of reason, a great leader in the dressing room, on the bench, in between periods. Carts will excel in any aspect of hockey operations, whatever he chooses to do."

Carter and his family are sticking around in Pittsburgh. They bought a house in the area last summer and are making this their permanent home. But as far as a career, he hasn't thought that far ahead yet. He's got more pressing matters first.

"I'm going to be a dad," he said. "You miss a lot, being a hockey player. I'm going to be home, be a dad for awhile, and figure it out from there."

He's earned that time off after 19 seasons. When he's ready to get back into the game, it wouldn't be surprising to see him have a spot in the Penguins' front office.