Erik Johnson Retires After 17 NHL Seasons, Won 2022 Stanley Cup with Avalanche

Former No. 1 pick and Stanley Cup champion defenseman Erik Johnson has played his final game in the NHL.

Johnson, who won the 2022 Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche, announced his retirement Wednesday ahead of the start of the 2025-26 NHL season.

Johnson skated for 17 seasons in the NHL. He competed for the Avalanche from 2011 to 2023, then returned in 2025 to finish out his career with the Avs.

Initially drafted by the St. Louis Blues with the No. 1 pick of the 2006 draft, Johnson was the first NHL defenseman in a decade to be selected first overall.

After one season with the University of Minnesota, Johnson became a mainstay in the Blues' starting lineup by the end of his rookie NHL campaign in 2008. His return was delayed by knee surgery that sidelined him for the 2008-09 season.

Johnson came back to play one and a half more seasons for the Blues, a span during which he won an Olympic silver medal with Team USA at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, before he was traded midway through the 2010-11 season.

He went on to spend more than a decade as a staple of the Colorado blue line, including on the defensive corps that helped the Avs win a championship in 2022.

Johnson averaged more than 17 minutes per game in ice time while playing in all 20 of the Avs' postseason games that year to help the franchise win its third Stanley Cup.

The veteran defenseman left in free agency ahead of the 2023 season, when he signed with the Buffalo Sabres before a midseason trade sent him to the Philadelphia Flyers.

The Flyers then traded Johnson back to Colorado before the end of the 2024-25 season. He closed out his NHL career with two final playoff appearances for the Avs against the Dallas Stars in the first round of the 2025 playoffs.

Johnson has skated in 1,023 regular-season games, good for 25th in NHL history among U.S.-born defensemen.

The blueliner amassed 95 goals and 253 assists for 348 career points over that span. He also contributed five goals and eight assists for 13 points in 57 playoff games, all with the Avalanche.

Johnson will close out his NHL career ranked eighth in Avalanche history with 731 games played for the franchise.