16-Year Veteran Anton Strålman Makes Surprising Career Decision

After a 16-year NHL career, and one season to wrap up his career in Sweden, 38-year-old defenseman Anton Strålman has called it quits, officially retiring from hockey. And wait till you hear what he hung up the skates for...

Anton Strålman sadlar om – här är nya karriärvalet. #twittpuck #HV71 https://t.co/gBXXpw7F84 https://t.co/gBXXpw7F84
— Hockeysverige.se (@hockeysverige) October 16, 2024

In a bizarre twist, after 16 years of battling it out on the ice with the toughest hockey players in the world, the Swedish D-man will now take over as a women’s soccer coach for Skultorps IF in Sweden. His role will be to help the women's team with their physical training.

Strålman returned home to Sweden last year after leaving the NHL, playing in the SHL for HV71 where he recorded 16 points in 48 games.

His most productive run in the NHL was with the Tampa Bay Lightning from 2014 to 2019, where he played 355 games, registering 130 points and an impressive plus/minus of +80.

Overall, in 16 seasons and 938 games, he recorded 293 points with a +46. Although he never drank from Lord Stanley's Cup, he did make the Stanley Cup final two years in a row, with the NY Rangers in 2014 and with the Bolts the next year.