The 38-year-old defenseman played the final three of his 11 NHL seasons with Vegas. Engelland will transition to the Vegas Golden Knights Foundation as the special assistant to owner Bill Foley. He will support the Golden Knights, the foundation and Foley's other charitable efforts through community outreach.
"It's been an amazing ride the last three years," Engelland said, "and I know the playing career has come to an end, but I'm excited for the next chapter in my life and being a part of this organization for years to come."
Engelland, selected by the New Jersey Devils in the sixth round (No. 194) of the 2000 NHL Draft, began his pro hockey career by playing for the Las Vegas Wranglers of the ECHL in 2003-04 and 2004-05. He has been a Las Vegas resident for the majority of his hockey career after meeting his wife, Melissa, while playing with the Wranglers.
"It feels amazing," he said of retiring with Vegas. "You go back 17 years when I started with the Wranglers here. If you asked me then if I'd be playing in the NHL in Vegas and have the best fans and the craziest arena in the League, I would have probably laughed, and here we are three years into the team's existence, and I'm fortunate to retire as a Golden Knight and continue my next chapter with them. You know, it's amazing. It's a great organization, and I'm just so happy to be part of it and to keep being a part of it. It's just an honor to put that jersey on and retire here."
Engelland played 671 NHL games with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Calgary Flames and Golden Knights, who chose him in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft. He finished his NHL career with 127 points (30 goals, 97 assists), including six points (one goal, five assists) in 49 games last season. He had five assists in 55 postseason games; two of them came in 2018, when he played 20 games during the first-year Golden Knights' run to the Stanley Cup Final.
Engelland called it a tough decision to retire and said he knows he can still play. He said he had spoken with other teams about continuing his playing career.
"The competitiveness in you always want to keep playing and play as long as you can," he said, "but I think at the end of the day it comes down to if I wanted to go put another jersey on or retire as a Knight, and I think that played a big factor into it."
Engelland's best offensive season came in 2017-18, when he scored 23 points (five goals, 18 assists) with the Golden Knights. He was an alternate captain and was presented with the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl after Vegas won the Western Conference Final.
After that season, Engelland was named the winner of the Mark Messier Leadership Award, presented to the NHL player who exemplifies great leadership qualities on and off the ice. He was a fixture in the Las Vegas community following a mass shooting Oct. 1, 2017, and made a passionate pregame speech at the home opener nine days later.
"Years from now, it's going to go down as probably the biggest thing in my career that I ever done, so it was an honor to do that," he said of the speech. "It's just an amazing … amazing to be part of that and be able to affect so many different people in so many ways."
Engelland also started Engo's Heroes, a charitable initiative to honor those affected by the shooting and additional first responders in the Las Vegas Valley, and was also involved in other charitable initiatives during his three seasons with the Golden Knights.
"Deryk Engelland epitomizes what it means to be a Golden Knight -- a no-ego, selfless, hardworking player who has an unwavering commitment to protecting those who are unable to protect themselves," Foley said. "Since he joined our organization in 2017, Deryk's service to our community has been exemplary. On behalf of the entire Vegas Golden Knights organization, we would like to congratulate Deryk on an outstanding career. He has made an indelible mark on our city and we are excited for this next chapter, as he stays with the Golden Knights family and continues the outstanding work he has done in our community."
NHL.com columnist Nicholas J. Costonika contributed to this report
