Former Sabres, Senators forward Tyler Ennis retires from professional hockey

Tyler Ennis, whose 700-game NHL career included a lengthy tenure with the Buffalo Sabres and multiple stints with the Ottawa Senators, announced his retirement from professional hockey on Tuesday.

Ennis followed a standout junior career with the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers by playing parts of 13 NHL seasons with the Sabres, Minnesota Wild, Toronto Maple Leafs, Edmonton Oilers, and Senators, collecting 144 goals and 346 points. He also amassed four goals and 12 points in 24 playoff contests.

“I want to begin by thanking the organizations I was fortunate enough to play for, especially the incredible equipment managers, medical teams, coaches, trainers, and all of the staff that made going to the rink every day so special,” Ennis wrote in an Instagram post on Tuesday. “To my teammates, it was a privilege being with you all and I’m honored to share our life-long brotherhood.”

Tyler Ennis has retired from professional hockey, he announced on Instagram.

A 2008 1st round pick, the 5’9 (!!!) forward played in 700 NHL games from 2009-2022 with #Sabres, #mnwild, #LeafsForever, #Sens, and #Oilers, tallying 144G, 202A, 346P in those 700 games. pic.twitter.com/SqnRmbjRG6

— NHL News (@PuckReportNHL) September 18, 2024

Ennis, 34, appeared in parts of eight seasons with the Sabres to begin his NHL career, helping the club reach the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2010 and 2011 (still, to date, Buffalo’s most recent postseason appearances).

The No. 26 overall pick in the 2008 NHL Draft, Ennis reached the 20-goal mark three times during his tenure with the Sabres. The Edmonton, Alberta product overcame the deficiencies presented by his 5’9″, 160-pound frame to become a consistently effective middle-six forward at the NHL level for more than a decade.

In 2017, as they recovered from the nadir of their ongoing rebuild process, the Sabres traded Ennis, Marcus Foligno, and a third-round pick to the Wild in exchange for Jason Pominville, Marco Scandella, and a fourth-round pick. The Wild elected to exercise a buyout on Ennis after just one season.

Then, after a reasonably productive year in a depth role with the Maple Leafs, Ennis joined the Senators and enjoyed his best season since his time in Buffalo, collecting 14 goals and 33 points in 61 games. He then played parts of two seasons with his hometown Oilers before returning to Ottawa in 2021-22 to conclude his NHL career.

Ennis spent the past two seasons playing overseas, collecting 33 points in 37 games with SC Bern in 2022-23 before appearing in seven games with the DEL’s Mannheim Eagles last year. He also played for Team Canada at the 2023 Spengler Cup.