Canadiens forward makes final retirement decision after 12-year careerLongtime Canadiens forward Paul Byron is hanging up the skates for good, Montreal GM Kent Hughes confirmed this week.
After 12 seasons in the National Hockey League, Montreal Canadiens forward Paul Byron is hanging up the skates for good, according to La Presse’s Richard Labbe.The 34-year-old missed the entire 2022-23 season due to a hip injury.
His four-year, $13.6 million contract signed back in September of 2018 expired over the summer.Habs GM Kent Hughes confirmed the reporting earlier this week.
He explained that he will meet with Byron before the season to explore a potential position with the NHL team, per Labbe.
A former sixth round pick by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2007 NHL Draft, Byron only suited up for eight games in Western New York in 2010-11 before he was traded to the Calgary Flames.
Byron played 130 games in Alberta over four NHL campaigns before joining the Quebec-based franchise. It was the last team he would play for after being claimed by the Canadiens in October of 2015.
He was excellent for Montreal in their 2021 Stanley Cup Final run, playing in all 22 games and helping the team defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs, Winnipeg Jets and Vegas Golden Knights en route to the team’s first Finals appearance since winning it all in 1993.
The Habs are the last Canadian team to win a Stanley Cup.Overall, Byron scored five goals and 11 points in 38 postseason National Hockey League contests. In the regular season, he accumulated back-to-back 20-goal campaigns with the team in 2016-17 and 2017-18, including a career-high 22 goals and 43 points in the former year.
Paul Byron ended his career as an alternate captain in Montreal, tallying 81 goals and 160 points in 383 regular-season contests for the Canadiens, and adding 98 goals and 208 points overall over 521 games.