Christian Fischer announces surprising retirement at just 28 years old and reveals why

In a move that no one saw coming, winger Christian Fischer announced his retirement from the NHL on Friday in an interview with Max Bultman of The Athletic.

He is just 28 years old. The decision to call it quits seems to come surprisingly early into his career.

“Over the last couple years, I think I just look at my life and what makes me happy, and being around family and kind of my life in Scottsdale — some of my friends here are really close with me, and I have a pretty small group out here, and honestly it’s just more so a decision of moving on into another chapter of my life,” Fischer said on a phone call Thursday night. “I wish there was a big reasoning why, but in the end, I’m very thankful for the career I had, but just personally I think I know it’s time for a new chapter in my life.”

When it comes to that next chapter, Fischer did not reveal a whole lot to Bultman, but he’s moving on to a business opportunity in the golf world with a close friend in Arizona.

Fischer played 45 regular-season games with the Detroit Red Wings this season before he was claimed off waivers by the Columbus Blue Jackets. He played only once for Columbus as he was a healthy scratch for 20 of the final 21 contests during the regular season.

In all, Fischer played through 523 games in the NHL and earned an estimated $7.84MM in career earnings over the course of nine seasons. He is adamant that it was never about the money, but making his childhood dream come true.

“If you told me that when I was 10 years old, ‘you’re going to play 500 games in the NHL,’ I would be the happiest kid you’ve ever seen.”

Fischer began his career when he was selected 32nd overall by the Arizona Coyotes in the 2015 NHL Draft. He finishes with 62 goals and 75 assists across 523 regular-season appearances for Arizona, Detroit and Columbus.

Happy retirement, Christian!