Chad Ruhwedel retires from NHL; ended career with Rangers, helped Penguins win Stanley Cup

There won’t be a reunion between Clad Ruhwedel and Mike Sullivan with the New York Rangers this coming season. Ruhwedel announced his retirement from the NHL on Tuesday, more than three months after Sullivan was hired as Rangers coach.

Ruhwedel finished his career in the Rangers organization, spending most of 2024-25 playing for Hartford of the American Hockey League. Acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins ahead of the 2024 NHL trade deadline, Ruhwedel played 10 regular-season games with the Rangers, including five last season.

The 35-year-old had 18 points (three goals, 15 assists) in 50 games with Hartford last season. He recorded one assist in five games with the Rangers, that point coming in what turned out to be his final NHL game on Dec. 22 against the Carolina Hurricanes.

“Playing in the NHL has been a dream come true. I’m incredibly grateful to the Buffalo Sabres, Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers organizations for giving me the opportunity to live that dream,” Ruhwedel said.

Ruhwedel played eight seasons with the Penguins, each with Sullivan as coach. He helped the Penguins win the Stanley Cup in 2017, his first season in Pittsburgh after opening his NHL career by playing parts of three seasons with the Sabres.

Chad Ruhwedel finished career with Rangers, won Stanley Cup with Penguins

A college star at UMass-Lowell, Ruhwedel was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Sabres in April 2013. He played seven games with the Sabres to close out the 2012-13 season. The San Diego native had his breakthrough after he signed with the Penguins ahead of the 2016-17 season. He played 34 games that season, averaged better than 17 minutes TOI and totaled 10 points, including his first NHL goal on Dec. 23, 2016, against the New Jersey Devils.

Ruhwedel appeared in six playoff games in the spring of 2017, including four against the Ottawa Senators in the Eastern Conference Final. The Penguins won their second consecutive Stanley Cup championship that year. Those were the first of 25 postseason games Ruhwedel played in during his career.

All told, Ruhwedel recorded 50 points (13 goals, 37 assists) in 369 NHL regular-season games.