Carter calls it a career

As first reported last week by Michael Russo in The Athletic, former Maverick and 10-year NHL veteran Ryan Carter has retired.

I got a chance to talk to Carter on Friday for today's story in The Free Press. He talked about his somewhat unlikely career — at least unlikely when he arrived at Minnesota State as a 21-year-old freshman in the fall of 2004. Two and a half years later, his name would be on the Stanley Cup, and he would bring the sacred trophy back to Mankato.

Only David Backes (now with the Boston Bruins) and Tim Jackman (who retired last year and is starting his second season at MSU as a student assistant), both draft picks, have played more NHL games coming out of Minnesota State.

As the story begins, Carter talks about playing the "what-if" game, as in what if he had stayed at MSU instead of taking that opportunity from the Anaheim Ducks after his sophomore year. I asked if he meant that he wonders if a tough junior season would have closed that window of opportunity. Quite the opposite, Carter said. He wonders if he would have been an even better NHL player, perhaps more of a scorer than a grinder.

Carter is finishing his MSU degree now, taking online classes. He hopes this semester plus a heavy load in the spring and some summer courses will allow him to finish within a year. Perhaps he'll use his student ID to come back to Mankato this season and watch his old team to play.