Ryan Whitney

Retired NHL

Former defenseman Ryan Whitney played in the NHL for four different teams during his nine-year NHL career. The No. 5 pick in the 2002 draft, he made his NHL debut for the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2005, and by his second season was one of the top-scoring defensemen in the league. But foot problems hampered him for much of the rest of his career. He’d scored 59 points in 2006–07, but never scored more than 40 points in a season after that. The Penguins traded him to the Anaheim Ducks in 2009, and the Ducks traded him to the Edmonton Oilers in 2010. He finished his NHL career with the Florida Panthers in 2014. After playing one season in Russia’s KHL, he announced his retirement from pro hockey in 2015. A native of Boston, Whitney played at Thayer Academy and for the USA Hockey National Team Development Program before earning a full scholarship to Boston University. He played for the Terriers for three seasons before turning professional. Whitney first played international hockey for the U.S. on the U-17, U-18 and U-20 teams. In 2010, he was a member of the U.S. team that won the silver medal at the Winter Olympics.