Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Hecht (concussion) isn’t ready to retire

If you wanted to come up with reasons why this might be Jochen Hecht’s last season, you would definitely be able to generate a few compelling arguments. Hecht will be 35 in June, is in the last season of his contract, and is currently in the process of recovering from his third concussion in roughly a year.

Still, it might not surprise you to learn that Hecht doesn’t want his career to end just yet.

“No,” Hecht said. “I don’t feel like I’m done.”

Hecht has been a solid contributor for years with the Buffalo Sabres, but given his age and his recent injury history, it might be a little tricky for him to get a new contract. If the Sabres don’t re-sign him, then Hecht might be one of those players that get lost in the early days of the free agency period where teams scramble to address the vast majority of their needs. That’s not to say that he can’t or won’t get a new contract, but in my mind he’s not a lock to start the 2012-13 campaign with an NHL squad.

It would help his cause if he’s able to return before the Sabres’ season is over in order to demonstrate that he’s at least entering the summer healthy. Unfortunately, Hecht isn’t likely to be ready to return before the end of the regular season, so the Sabres will probably have to make the playoffs in order for him to get any more ice time before the summer.