Goalies aside, which veteran player surprises you that he's still playing? For me, and even though he's not the oldest, it's Milan Lucic. After that, it's a tie between Brent Burns and Mark Giordano. -- @TrishTheMiddle
If you wanted an answer because of age, then I'll agree with you on Giordano and Burns. Giordano, a defenseman for the Toronto Maple Leafs, is 39. Burns, a defenseman for the Hurricanes, is 38. But I'm not surprised they're still in the NHL because Giordano and Burns are still good players and in great shape. There's no reason they can't play into their 40s. Lucic, a forward with the Calgary Flames, is another good option here not because of age, 34, but because of style of play. He's been a rugged, physical, grinding forward who has played 1,163 games since 2007-08 and has 3,245 hits, fifth in NHL history. That's a lot of wear and tear on a body, but Lucic has handled it well and he's still going, which is somewhat surprising.
But my picks are Penguins defenseman Kris Letang and Stars forward Tyler Seguin because of what they have been through health and injury wise.
Letang has played through two strokes. One would often be enough to end a playing career. One makes you fear for quality of life. Letang had two and he's still playing. It's remarkable. He's had a debilitating neck injury that required surgery, multiple concussions, broken bones, infections and the like. He keeps coming back. He's not doing it on his own. The doctors wouldn't allow Letang to play if he couldn't or if his health issues were putting his future at risk. The fact that he has plowed through is still amazing.
Seguin's right leg was ravaged from surgery and nerve damage more than two years ago. The Stars forward said he basically had no quadriceps muscle when he arrived at his trainer Matt Nichol's gym outside of Toronto in January 2021. But he was back on the ice for three games at the end of the 2020-21 season and full go for the start of 2021-22. Seguin is out now because his left leg was cut by a skate March 9, a serious injury that had general managers talking last week about making cut resistant socks and undergarments mandatory across the NHL. Stars coach Peter DeBoer said Tuesday that Seguin had the stitches removed from his leg and expects him to return to the lineup by the end of the week. The fact that Seguin is still able to play is remarkable because of how badly he was injured and how bleak it looked for him 26 months ago.