After announcing he would be stepping away from hockey for some time, Alex Pietrangelo isn’t ruling out a return to the ice in the future.
The Vegas Golden Knights defenceman, who, in July, chose to step away from the NHL for an indefinite amount of time due to health concerns with his hip, told reporters on Monday that nothing’s concrete about his playing future but that he’s feeling much better.
“I’m just gonna continue to kinda take it day by day and go through my process and see where it goes,” Pietrangelo said when asked about whether or not he would rule out playing this upcoming season.
Pietrangelo, 35, played 71 regular-season games and 10 playoff games for the Golden Knights last season, averaging 22:24 and 23:03 time on ice, respectively.
However, he dealt with a hip injury throughout the campaign that he said, on Monday, made his day-to-day life harder over the course of the year.
After the season, he was advised by team professionals and doctors that he should “remove the intensity of hockey to see if my body can improve so that I can return to a normal quality of life,” and that “the likelihood is low that my body will recover to the standard required to play.”
Despite the severity of the nagging health concerns, Pietrangelo made it clear that he’s opting for rehab rather than surgery.
“Not yet. I’m gonna continue to try and rehab it,” Pietrangelo said. “The rehab process is the way I want to do it right now and it’s obviously been making a huge difference, so like I said, I feel a lot better.”
The King City, Ont. native was tapped by Team Canada to participate in the 4 Nations Face-Off in February but pulled out, citing ongoing injury concerns.
As part of the rehabilitation process, Pietrangelo has remained with the Golden Knights, working through his health in the team’s facilities while remaining a vocal presence in the locker room — something he said remains important to him throughout his recovery.
Most important to him, though, is his long-term health, particularly the way in which it affects his ability to be a dad and a husband.
“First and foremost, I think being able to be a dad and being able to do the things that I wanna do as a dad is very important to me,” Pietrangelo said. “And we have a phenomenal team here; the rehab process has been great and I’ve been able to be the husband and the dad that I wanna be.”
Pietrangelo won his first Stanley Cup as captain of the St. Louis Blues in 2019, then signed as a free agent with the Golden Knights that off-season. He would go on to win another championship with Vegas in 2023.
Throughout his 17-year NHL career, the right-shot defenceman has appeared in 1,087 games, scoring 148 goals and 637 points.
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