REPORT: Former 1st round pick - calls it a career and retires from Hockey

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Ryan
August 29, 2022 (4:52 PM)

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When you are selected by a team in the First Round of the NHL Entry Draft, it comes with a lot of pressure. Sometimes players live up to this pressure and sometimes the pick just doesn't pan out. Unfortunately for the Calgary Flames, this is one of those times it did not.

Back in 2013, the Calgary Flames had the 28th overall pick which they received from the Pittsburgh Penguins after trading away fan favourite, Jarome Iginla. They used this pick on a solid WHL player in Morgan Klimchuk.

At the time Klimchuk was a very good offensive player playing for the Regina Pats and went on to have multiple seasons over a point per game.

His game though never transitioned to the National Hockey League. He did manage to put up some good numbers on occasion in the AHL, scoring over 40 points in multiple season for the Stockton Heat.

While Klimchuk will no longer be playing in hockey, he has already secured a new job in coaching:

Morgan Klimchuk has retired from professional hockey at the age of 27 and will join the Victoria Royals of the Western Hockey League as an assistant coach.

Klimchuk was drafted 28th by Calgary in 2013, but played just one game in the NHL.

After leaving the Calgary organization in 2019, he bounced around to Toronto & Ottawa's farm teams. His final season was in the AHL in 2019-20.