Report: Rangers’ Kevin Klein considering retirement from NHL

Former NHL player Darcy Tucker joined the Andrew Walker show to quickly weigh in his opinion on Dion Phaneuf's expected decision to not waive his no-move clause.

New York Rangers defenceman Kevin Klein is reportedly considering leaving the NHL and heading to Europe.

According to Larry Brooks of the New York Post, the 32-year-old is contemplating retirement from the NHL and has already held a going-away party.

Klein was a healthy scratch for 11 of the Rangers’ 12 Stanley Cup Playoff games and was limited to 60 regular season contests because of back issues.

The veteran blue-liner has one year and $2.75 million remaining on his contract, which comes with a $2.9 million cap hit.

Having Klein retire from the NHL would free up $2.9 million in cap space for the Rangers. He’s expected to be left unprotected by the Rangers in the upcoming expansion draft.

Klein was a second-round pick (37th overall) by the Nashville Predators in 2003 and spent parts of 10 seasons with the organization before being acquired by the Rangers for fellow defenceman Michael Del Zotto in January 2014.

Klein has 38 goals and 154 points in 627 NHL games.

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