Veteran NHL defender Jordan Oesterle announced his retirement on Monday afternoon via his agency, O2K Sports Management. Oesterle spent most of the final two seasons of his 12-year career in the Predators organization after being selected off waivers by Nashville in March of 2025.
Oesterle played 15 games for the Predators to close out the 2024-25 season, scoring three goals with one assist. He averaged 16 minutes of ice time per game and had 20 blocks with eight takeaways and seven hits.
He was sent to Milwaukee to play for the Admirals in 2025-26, scoring 14 goals with 32 assists in 69 appearances, but made a single late-season appearance for the Predators, making two blocks and a hit in a 4-1 April loss to Utah.
Oesterle was born in Dearborn Heights, Michigan, and played college hockey at Western Michigan and signed an entry-level contract with the Edmonton Oilers
in 2014 as an undrafted free agent. He made 25 appearances over three seasons in Edmonton before signing a two-year contract with Chicago
in 2017.
The defenseman made 55 appearances for the Blackhawks
, scoring his first NHL goal against the Oilers. He was traded the following summer to the Arizona Coyotes. He made 172 appearances, scoring 10 goals and recording 34 assists over three years with the Coyotes before signing a two-year contract with the Detroit Red Wings
.
The left-hander signed a one-year contract with the Calgary Flames , then a two-year contract with the Boston Bruins , before being waived in March 2025. He played 409 NHL games, scoring 23 goals with 73 assists. He won a bronze medal for Team USA at the 2018 IIHF World Championship.
The 34-year-old ends his professional hockey career with one playoff appearance, playing in nine games for the Coyotes in 2020, scoring four points with 20 total shots.
Numerous social media accounts took to the internet to express appreciation for Oesterle's career..
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/nhl/predators/onsi as Journeyman Defender Retires After 12-Year Career .
