Former Calgary Flames prospect Tim Erixon announced his retirement from professional hockey on Wednesday in an interview with Swedish newspaper Sundsvalls Tidning.

Erixon, 35, spent the final four seasons of his career with Swedish Hockey League club Timrå IK before being forced to retire after sustaining multiple foot injuries. He appeared in just six games with Timrå in the 2024-25 season and none this year, with his contract set to expire this summer.

The Flames originally selected Erixon in the first round (No. 23 overall) of the 2009 NHL Draft, but he refused to sign an entry-level contract with the team and was traded less than two years later to the New York Rangers — the same team his father, Jan, played for in the 1980s and 1990s. He was the final first-round pick of Darryl Sutter’s tenure as Flames GM, and the only one to never play for the team.

In his Sundsvall Tidning interview, Erixon revealed that he was told at age 16 that his back would be unable to withstand the rigours of professional hockey, and that he has experienced lingering issues with his back in conjunction with his foot injuries in recent years.

Erixon returned to his native Sweden in 2019 after spending eight seasons in North America. He began his NHL career with the Rangers in 2011, having been acquired from the Flames in exchange for Roman Horak and two 2011 second-round picks (the Flames used them to select Markus Granlund and Tyler Wotherspoon).

But after just one season and 18 NHL games with the Rangers, Erixon was included in a blockbuster trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2012 offseason, in which New York received Rick Nash, Steven Deslisle, and a conditional 2013 third-round pick in exchange for Brandon Dubinsky, Artem Anisimov, Erixon, and a 2013 first-round pick.

Although Erixon appeared in parts of three seasons with the Blue Jackets, he never lived up to his billing as a first-round pick and was eventually traded to the Chicago Blackhawks in December of 2014. The Blackhawks waived Erixon the following March, only for the Toronto Maple Leafs to claim him; then, on July 1, 2015, the Leafs included Erixon in the Phil Kessel trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Erixon played the following four seasons in the American Hockey League and would never return to the NHL, finishing his career with two goals and 14 points in 93 games split between the Rangers, Blue Jackets, Blackhawks, and Maple Leafs. He enjoyed much more success in Sweden, most notably winning an SHL championship with Växjö in 2021.

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