Former 1st round pick finally reveals why he retired in 2021, at just 26 years old

Former 11th overall pick, Samuel Morin, an ex-Philadelphia Flyers prospect, recently opened up about his decision to hang up his skates during an appearance on the Nasty Knuckles Podcast. Here's what he had to say:

At the time that he had chosen to announce his retirement, Morin said that he had had around 7 or 8 surgeries on his knee and at some points, even after the damage to his knee was surgically repaired and he was cleared to resume his career, he'd come back only to be hurt again not long after returning.

Morin confirmed that after his final surgery, when doctors had told him that he'd been medically cleared to compete, he simply wasn't sure he could go through all of it again and chose to put himself first and, for his own mental health, opted to instead retire.

Morin, barely 28, revealed that he'll need a full knee replacement before long and that although his knee feels okay right now, the cartilage keeps peeling away from his knee, like an orange. If that's not telling of the damage he had sustained over his short career, I don't know what is.

Hockey is a great game, but it's not everything to everyone. With Morin having made this very tough decision for himself, we can only wish him the best in everything that comes next with life after hockey.