Canadian
left winger Taylor Leier,
31, announced his retirement on Monday via his personal Instagram
account and
explained is reasons.
“Hockey
has been my life, my passion, and my identify for as long as I can
remember,” Leier wrote. “My decision hasn’t been easy, but
after undergoing a second shoulder surgery to repair a fracture
sustained last season, I was diagnosed with degenerative changes in
the joint.”
Originally
from Saskatoon, Sask., Heise played junior hockey for the WHL’s
Portland Winterhawks and played parts of three NHL seasons for the
Philadelphia Flyers before spending the last five seasons of his
career in Europe – in Czechia with Oceláři
Třinec, in Germany with Adler Mannheim and the Straubing Tigers and
in Sweden with Linkoping HC. He finished his career in 2024-25,
where he played a total of three seasons in two separate tours of
duty.
Leier
was chosen in the fourth round, 117th
overall, by Philadelphia in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. Between 2015
and 2018, he played 55 NHL games for the Flyers, scoring two goals
and adding five assists and 10 penalty minutes. He spent the
majorithy of that time in the AHL
with the Leigh Valley Phantoms.
Midway
through
the 2018-19 season, Leier was traded to
the Buffalo Sabres in exchange
for Justin Bailey, and played the next season and a half with the
Rochester Americans before heading to Europe in 2021.
Photo © Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
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