Florida Panthers goalie Roberto Luongo has decided to retire after 19 seasons in the NHL
The 40-year-old made the announcement Wednesday on his Twitter account.
His 489 career victories are third in league history behind only Martin Brodeur and Patrick Roy.
The Montréal native was the fourth overall pick in the 1997 draft by the New York Islanders, with whom he made his NHL debut on Nov. 28, 1999. He then spent five years with Florida, the next eight with the Vancouver Canucks and returned to the Panthers on March 14, 2014.
''This is one of the toughest decisions I've faced in my life and it took me a long time to make it,'' Luongo wrote in an open letter to fans. ''After thinking about it a lot over the past two months
and listening to my body, I made up my mind. It just feels like the right time for me to step away from the game. I love the game so much, but the commitment I required to prepare, to keep my body ready, has become overwhelming.''
According to TSN, the Panthers will be left with a $1.09-million cap recapture penalty for the next three seasons, while the Vancouver Canucks, who signed Luongo to his current contract, will face a $3.03-million cap penalty for the next three years.