Jeff Carter's outstanding NHL career has come to an end

The Pittsburgh Penguins showed resiliency all season long but they won't be going to the playoffs this year.

With the end of the season usually comes change for a lot of players. For Jeff Carter, it means the end of a great NHL career.

Carter was originally drafted in the first round (11th overall) by the Philadelphia Flyers. He was a part of that incredible 2003 class that will go down as an all-timer.

After spending six good seasons with the Flyers, he was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets. In return, Philly landed the draft picks used for Sean Couturier and Nick Cousins. Jakub Voracek also came back in the deal. It was a monumental trade for them.

Jeff Carter was a great player throughout his NHL career despite moving around

He didn't even spend one season with the Jackets. Halfway through the year, he was sent to the Los Angeles Kings for Jack Johnson and the draft pick that became Marko Dano. Columbus didn't do nearly as well as the Flyers here.

With Los Angeles, he became a top NHL player. Carter would go on to spend parts of ten years with the Kings. He was a part of two Stanley Cup championship teams with them as well. To say his time there went well would be an understatement.

Carter then closed out his career with the Pittsburgh Penguins. It seemed short but he was there for parts of four years.

Throughout his career, Carter scored 442 goals and had 409 assists for 851 points in 1321 games played. He scored over 30 goals five times and was an outstanding defensive player throughout his prime.

When he was with the Kings, Anze Kopitar was an incredible top-line Hall of Fame caliber center. With Jeff Carter as the second-line guy, the Kings were as deep down the middle as any team in the league. He was as important to the run of success as anyone.

Now, it is time for Carter to enjoy being a dad as he eluded to after the game was over. It has been a wonderful career for him and he won't be forgotten any time soon. You can probably expect to see him honored at certain points over the next handful of years.