One of the toughest parts of retiring from the NHL is that very few get the tear-jerking, heart-warming press conference. Most players devote their lives to the sport they love, then disappear into the sunset without much fanfare.
Not everybody even gets the retirement press release from the NHLPA or the goodbye news article.
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That’s why we asked Derek Stepan to come on our Straight from the Source podcast on Monday afternoon.
This was a heart-and-soul competitor who starred at Shattuck-St. Mary’s, captained the United States to a world juniors gold medal, went straight from the University of Wisconsin right into the NHL, scored a hat trick in his first career game and played 890 regular-season and 120 playoff games for the New York Rangers, Arizona Coyotes, Ottawa Senators and Carolina Hurricanes.
Now, Stepan is beginning his next chapter in hockey by joining the Minnesota Wild’s front office on a part-time basis.
Most importantly, after living out his dream and being away from his wife and three kids a lot, Stepan will be able to do his job on his own terms and timetable under Minnesota president of hockey operations and general manager Bill Guerin. He wants Stepan to spend as much time with his family as he can and plans to let him experience several different areas of the club in order to see what he most likes and is interested in.
That means one day he may be in Iowa with their farm team, the next he may be scouting a hockey game. One day he could be chatting with a young Wild center or shadowing a coaches’ meeting, the next he could be sitting in on front office meetings like a fly on the wall or adding his two cents.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity,” Stepan said. “This is a really cool and unique situation where I get this path to just check everything out, get to see everybody. That’s kind of where it’s at right now in my head. I just want to go and check it out. … But the great thing about Billy is he’s been very adamant about making sure that I take time at home, and that’s probably the most important job to start this year, my first year out, is making sure I’m spending time here with the crew and getting that family time that you miss a lot of when you’re playing.”
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Stepan has no history with Guerin. He lives down the street from the Guerins, one day saw Guerin walking his Bernese Mountain Dog/Great Pyrenees mix and asked if they could have breakfast.
During the expansive podcast, Stepan spoke about world juniors, his dad Brad’s influence, his hope for the future of the Coyotes, his belief in the Cup-contending Hurricanes, what it was like to play with Brent Burns and how he played with and against Ryan McDonagh at all levels.
Here are some greatest hits, edited for length and clarity.
On what it has been like to watch Wild training camp in a golf shirt
I told my wife this, I thought maybe watching camp and watching the games — I got to go on the road to see a couple of the (exhibition) road games, I thought that maybe I’d sit up there and watch and be like, “Man, I miss this. I should be down there.” And I haven’t really had that urge. So it feels right. It feels like the next chapter has been on hold for a little bit and it’s ready to start. So I’m looking forward to it.
On the fact he’s never actually been to a minor-league game
It’s funny because when I left Wisconsin, no one really knew what the plan was. I mean, the Rangers said they wanted me to come to New York and sign a pro contract, but I didn’t know what that meant. I didn’t know if that meant I’d start in the minors or if that meant that I would start even further back because I was still of age I could have played in the CHL. So we didn’t really know what to expect.
Torts (John Tortorella) was just taking the team over and he was pretty adamant that he wanted to go younger and he wanted some guys there in camp that he could push for a spot. And that’s the way it went.
I had a really good Traverse City, had a really good camp, I played all six preseason games. And they’re like, “You’re gonna stay for a game and we’re just going to kind of see.” And I scored a hat trick and Torts said, “You bought yourself 20 games, we’re gonna see where this goes.” I didn’t play a whole lot after the first two or three games. I was averaging low minutes. I wasn’t getting on the ice much. Like Game 22, Torts brought me into his office and he said, “Hey, get ready. You’re gonna play tomorrow night,” and I was playing with (Marian) Gaborik and (Alex) Frolov and that was it. So, yes, I’ve been very blessed and a silver spooner. Haven’t seen any minor league games, so I’m looking forward for that opportunity to check out some of that stuff.
Derek Stepan celebrates a goal in April 2017 with the Rangers. (Jana Chytilova / Freestyle Photography / Getty Images)On the Coyotes
It’s such an amazing place to live, and if they can figure out a way to make it work, I think it’s going to be a destination spot for guys.
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Now, there’s a lot of hurdles and jumps that have to happen. And when I was there, you always heard that they’re trying to do it, they’re trying to do it. And they got to continue to do that. They’ve got to continue to push if they want to keep it. Whether it works or not, I’m not educated enough on it if it’s going to be a slam dunk. But from my short time there, if you could figure out how to keep people there, it’d be one thing that a lot of guys in the league would want to do.
On walking through a Wild room that still has former teammates Mats Zuccarello and Alex Goligoski, who are both in their mid-to-late 30s
The one thing about Zuc is he makes everybody on the ice better. And it seems like a silly thing to say, but it is a skill set. There’s some players that are really good, but they might not make the two guys they are playing with that much better. Zuc is like that. That is his quality that he is unbelievable at. Everyone that plays with Zuc has success. Everyone that plays with Zuc has fun, he’s just an incredible, gifted player. Him and Goose both to be playing at the age that they’re playing now just says how talented they truly are.
Zuc already kinda made me feel bad. … Probably a day into it, he says, “You go to the other side and you’ve already changed.” I told him that he was just jealous. I told him Billy better not give me any rein to do what I want because the first thing I’m doing is trading him (laughing).
On the Canes
Everybody’s talking about them. There’s a good reason why.
You look at their lineup, you look at their leadership and their head coach and their general manager, they have worked extremely hard, they have good people in good places and their personnel is strong. To get over that hump and to win, it’s so difficult. It’s really hard to do. And the best thing you can do while you are a good club, and while you are a contender, is to constantly put yourself in a position to get there. I mean, every year, they’re there. They’re right there.
Obviously, injuries are a big part of it. And I would probably say that without (Andrei) Svechnikov in the lineup (last postseason), it was going to be really difficult for us to get all the way to the finish line because he’s just such a big piece of the club.
That’s why it’s one of the hardest trophies to win. You’ve got to have a lot of pieces falling into place, and you got to play good hockey. So they have earned the right to be a legitimate contender every year. And they’ve earned the right for everyone to be talking about them the way they are. They’re not wrong.
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On playing with Brent Burns
First of all, to play at that age (38), you have to have this ability to understand what it takes. And Burnzie’s one of those guys that knows what he’s doing.
That big backpack (he carries on every road trip) is so that he can continue to play each night. Everything in there. I don’t want to ruin it. I don’t want to give away the secret. But one day, you should ask him and see if he’ll tell you. … I used to tell him that if he were to lose that backpack, he’s going to fall apart at the hinges.
I think he’s going to be one of those guys that he’ll go … until somebody says, “Hey Burnzie, you can’t (play) anymore.”
It was fun to play with him. I always told him when we were playing together, it’s like, “Man, if there was a few guys in the league, it was him and Jumbo (Joe Thornton), that I wanted to at least have one experience with at some point,” and I was fortunate enough to get him in Carolina for a year.
Derek Stepan and Brent Burns with his backpack in April 2023. (Josh Lavallee / NHLI via Getty Images)On the fans
I appreciate you giving me a little bit of a platform here, and to (thank) the fans who gave us so much is a great opportunity. Obviously in our little retirement tweets or … messages, we always thank the fans. But I truly don’t think they understand how much we’re grateful for them because it’s what the whole shebang is for at the end of the day. When you’re playing in the playoffs and these people are just lighting up buildings, it’s what makes memories.
(Top photo: Josh Lavallee / NHLI via Getty Images)
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