The 2017 NHL Entry Draft was very interesting. It followed the 2015 and 2016 drafts that had Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel, and Auston Matthews. 2017 was never going to live up to that but there were still some very good players to consider at the top.
The New Jersey Devils won the lottery and selected Swiss phenom Nico Hischier. He rose to the top of the draft with an incredible World Juniors in addition to a great year with the Halifax Mooseheads.
That left Nolan Patrick on the board for the Philadelphia Flyers at pick number two. He was supposed to be the guy at number one but New Jersey opted to go with Hischier instead.
Patrick was still a very good prospect and one that earned a lot of respect leading up to the draft. He was very good as a representative of Team Canada and as a junior player with the Brandon Wheat Kings.
Nolan Patrick's NHL career is over as he has retired from the league.
Unfortunately, most of Patrick’s NHL career has been spent dealing with injuries, most notably concussions. We thought we learned that he is retiring from hockey at 25 years old.
A report from Elliotte Friedman, however, turned this news upside-down. Patrick declined to comment but he did confirm that he is not officially retired. We don't know if that means he is planning on playing again but the initial reports were false.
Patrick last played in 2021-22 as a member of the Vegas Golden Knights. He played with them for 25 games after being a Flyer for the first three years of his career.
Over his 222 career NHL games, Patrick scored 32 goals and 45 assists for 77 points. He was a good player but his injuries never let him take that next step as a star in the NHL.
This is pretty sad from a human being's point of view. Patrick was seen as someone who could be elite in the NHL but could not reach that goal because of his injury issues. We can only hope that he finds health and happiness in the future whether he plays again or not.