After spending parts of 11 seasons in the NHL, veteran forward Mark Letestu has announced his retirement according to Aaron Portzline of The Athletic.
"The too bag... it's had enough. I skated good enough. I shot the puck really well. I thought the game really well. But I got a lot of breaks along the way, too, right from the very start." Letestu said in an interview with The Athletic.
The Athletic: Mark Letestu, aka «Mr. Utility,» has retired after 12 #NHL seasons as a jack-of-all-trades forward with #CBJ, #LetsGoPens, #LetsGoOilers and #GoJetsGo
"I got a lot of time out of being a short, slow guy in a fast man's league.»https://t.co/l4h2pehSNi pic.twitter.com/viPzud4cso— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) December 27, 2020
Letestu, 35, as mentioned, spent parts of 11 seasons in the National Hockey League with Pittsburgh, Columbus (two different stints), Edmonton, and Winnipeg.
In 567 regular season games, Letestu recorded 210 points (93 G, 117 A), 90 penalty minutes, and was a -49. In 36 career playoff games, he had 15 points (6 G, 9 A), 2 penalty minutes, and was a -10. His best season came in 2016-17 with the Edmonton Oilers where he tallied 35 points (16 G, 19 A), 17 penalty minutes, and was a -2 in 78 games.
He spent 7 games with the Winnipeg Jets during the 2019-20 season recording zero points, zero penalty minutes, and was a +/-0 before being shut down for the remainder of the season after being diagnosed with Myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscles.
Congratulations to Mark Letestu on a solid NHL career, and all the best in retirement.
