Former Leaf expected to retire from the NHL due to injury

Former Leaf Ondrej Kase has been an effective NHL player throughout his career. Unfortunately, his career has been limited to just 258 games over parts of 7 seasons due to a number of injuries, but mostly concussion issues. Kase has been in concussion protocol since October 13th and has yet to be a full participant in practice for the Carolina Hurricanes. He has been skating in a non-contact jersey since December 16th, but there is still no timetable for his return.

The 27-year-old Kase signed a one-year deal with the Hurricanes in the summer with a cap hit of $1.5M after putting up 27 points in 50 games for the Leafs the season prior. Unfortunately for Kase, he has played just one game this season before entering concussion protocol.

It appears that Kase's NHL career is likely over and that he will officially retire after this season. Puck reporter Jakub Koreis is reporting that the 27-year-old is likely to sign a contract with HC Verva Litvinov for next season as he would like to continue to play. Over his 258 games in the NHL, Kase has registered 57 goals and 124 points with Anaheim, Toronto, Boston and Carolina.

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