The 38-year-old goalie won the Stanley Cup each of the past two seasons with the Tampa Bay Lightning as the backup to Andrei Vasilevskiy. He was 4-6-2 with a 3.09 goals-against average, .875 save percentage and one shutout in 12 regular-season games last season and did not play in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
"I certainly didn't map my career out this way but looking back on it now, I've been pretty fortunate," McElhinney said on Wednesday. "It was an incredibly long career, caught a lot of breaks along the way that allowed me to stay in the NHL. I can't complain about it, it certainly worked out pretty well in the end."
The Lightning signed goalie Brian Elliott to a one-year contract on July 28 to back up Vasilevskiy.
"I was prepared to play about one more season but when nothing materialized to my liking, we just decided to call it," McElhinney said. "It's been a pretty good decision so far. I'm actually kind of grateful not to be at a training camp right now getting my butt kicked around so I can't complain. I do miss it a little bit but I'm excited to watch hockey this year from my couch and not the bench."
Selected by the Calgary Flames in the sixth round (No. 176) of the 2002 NHL Draft, McElhinney was 94-95-20 with a 2.83 GAA, .907 save percentage and 12 shutouts in 249 regular-season games (198 starts) with the Lightning, Carolina Hurricanes, Toronto Maple Leafs, Columbus Blue Jackets, Phoenix Coyotes, Ottawa Senators, Anaheim Ducks and Flames.
He was 3-3 with a 2.40 GAA and .913 save percentage in seven playoff games (four starts).
"I loved being in the environment in the NHL," McElhinney said. "It was such a privilege to be there but I am not going to miss the stress and anxiety of performing for my starts or relief appearances. I won't miss that aspect of hockey but I will miss the game itself and I'll probably try to find that in other avenues in my life."
McElhinney said he plans to spend time with his family before deciding if he'll remain involved in hockey in the future.
"First, for me, it'll just be helping out with my kids' hockey teams," he said. "I want to make sure that I'm there. They are in grade 7 and 5. … As far as my involvement with professional hockey, down the road I think it's something I'd like to get back into but the coaches and managers put in an incredible amount of time, and right now, it's time for me to spend some time with my family and make sure I'm investing in their lives. I'm going to stay involved in hockey in some capacity, I'm just not sure what yet."
NHL.com independent correspondent Dave McCarthy contributed to this report
