At Madison Square Garden on Monday night, jonathan quick will take one more turn in goal, and it will be his last start in the NHL. For the New York Rangers, the game against the Florida Panthers is a late-season meeting with no playoff path left to chase. For Quick, it is a final stop in a career that has stretched across three teams, three championships, and two decades of professional hockey.
What makes this final start feel different?
The scene is simple but heavy with meaning: one more game, one more crease, one more crowd watching a veteran who has been part of the league long enough to become part of its memory. Quick, 40, made the announcement that he is retiring after the season, and the Rangers will give him his final NHL start Monday against Florida. The team enters the second-to-last game of its season already eliminated from playoff contention, which adds a muted, almost reflective tone to the night.
Quick’s season line with New York tells part of the story. He has a 6-16-2 record, an. 893 save percentage, and a 3. 09 goals-against average while playing on a one-year, $1. 55 million contract. Those numbers sit beside a broader body of work that has defined his place in the sport. Drafted 72nd overall by the Los Angeles Kings in 2005, he has built a career record of 410-306-90 with a 2. 51 goals-against average and a. 910 save percentage across the Kings, Vegas Golden Knights, and Rangers.
How did jonathan quick build a career that will be remembered?
Quick’s legacy rests on more than longevity. He is a two-time Stanley Cup winner with the Kings, lifting the trophy in 2012 and 2014. In 2012, he won the Conn Smythe Trophy after posting a 16-4 record, a 1. 41 goals-against average, and a. 946 save percentage during that playoff run. He also was part of the Golden Knights’ Cup-winning team in 2023 and later received a third championship ring after returning to Vegas while playing for the Rangers the following year.
He also earned the William M. Jennings Trophy twice, in 2014 and 2018, for helping lead the teams with the league’s lowest goals-against average. Internationally, Quick represented the United States at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, where the team finished fourth, and again at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey in Toronto, where the team finished seventh.
Those accomplishments matter because they frame the final game as more than a roster note. It is the end of a career that once shaped championship hopes and later offered steadiness in a different role. For the Rangers, he became a veteran presence behind Igor Shesterkin. For the league, he became a familiar name associated with big games, deep runs, and a long stretch of reliability.
What does this mean for the Rangers right now?
The Rangers now face a decision about the future of their goaltending depth once the season closes. One team-focused question had already been hovering over the offseason: whether Quick would remain part of the picture. That question is now answered on his side. The uncertainty shifts to what comes next for New York, which has been positioned publicly as a team retooling rather than rebuilding.
Chris Drury, the Rangers’ general manager, will have work to do as the offseason begins, especially with cap space and roster planning ahead. But Quick’s retirement narrows one possible path. The veteran option behind Shesterkin will no longer be available, and the club must decide how it wants to shape that spot moving forward. That matters because Quick had still provided usable depth in three seasons with the Rangers, posting a 35-29-6 record in 75 games.
In that sense, the ending is practical as well as emotional. A team that has already been pushed out of the playoff race now moves toward the offseason with one fewer familiar piece. A player who once stood at the center of a championship conversation now leaves on his own terms, after making the decision clear before his final start.
What comes after the final whistle?
There is no mystery about the immediate next step: Quick will finish the season, and then his NHL career will be over. The final start against the Panthers will close a run that began when the Kings selected him in 2005 and carried through 828 NHL games. His 410 wins place him 12th all-time, a number that captures how long he remained relevant in one of the league’s most demanding positions.
On Monday, the Rangers’ crease will hold the last chapter of jonathan quick’s career. The crowd will not be watching a debut or a breakthrough. It will be watching a farewell, and perhaps that is what gives the night its force: a quiet ending, but one built on years of hard-earned significance.
