Duncan Keith officially announces his retirement

Edmonton Oilers defenseman and Chicago Blackhawks legend Duncan Keith has officially announced his retirement from the NHL after 16 seasons.

The 38 year old blueliner is a sure fire, first ballot Hall of Famer when he becomes eligible in three years. By retiring this offseason, Keith rids the Oilers of the $5.5 million salary cap obligations but also saddles the Blackhawks with two seasons of cap recapture penalties. The Blackhawks will pay roughly $5.5 million this season for Keith and nearly $2 million next season.

While Keith didn't exactly light the world on fire in his lone season with the Oilers, he'll still go down as one of the best defensemen of his entire generation. He's a two time Olympic gold medalist, three time Stanley Cup champion, a two time Norris Trophy winner and the 2015 Conn Smythe Trophy winner. He was an absolute horse who was capable of playing 20+ minutes per game in his career and could dominate play both in the offensive and defensize zones. He was the straw the stirred the drink in Chicago for over a decade and was arguably the most reliable and consistent defenseman in the NHL over his career. Aside from putting up points and driving offensive play, he was an underrated defensive defenseman as evidenced by the fact that he's 2nd all-time in NHL history with 2,011 blocked shots.

As far as his legacy in Chicago goes,  he ranks second all-time to only Stan Makita in career games played for the franchise (1,192), 10th in career points (625), sixth in career assists (520), fifth in playoff games played (135) and seventh in playoff points (86). Needless to say that his #2 should be retired and hanging from the rafters in the United Centre in short order.

Personally speaking, Keith is a player whom I absolutely adored watching. He was the smoothest skating defenseman since Scott Niedermayer and his patience with the puck was matched by few individuals. He reminded me at times of a Paul Coffey type, but with better defensive instincts. Just an absolutely tremendous player who should have the red carpet rolled out for him into the Hall of Fame.