Rhett Rakhshani

Rhett Thomas Rakhshani (born March 6, 1988) is an American former professional ice hockey player. He was selected by the New York Islanders in the fourth round (100th overall) of the 2006 NHL entry draft. Rakhshani is of Iranian–German–Mexican–American descent. He announced his retirement on December 14, 2022, after his wife had been diagnosed with cancer.

Playing career As a youth, Rakhshani played in the 2002 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the California Wave minor ice hockey team.

Rakhshani played collegiately at the University of Denver between 2006 and 2010, and received All-America West First Team honors as a senior, before signing with the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League (NHL). He made his professional debut with the Islanders' affiliate, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the American Hockey League (AHL), in April 2010. He attended the 2010-11 AHL All-Star Classic and was named to the AHL All-Rookie Team the same season.

On December 13, 2010, Rakhshani suited up with the New York Islanders to make his NHL debut in an away game shutout loss against the Nashville Predators.

In 2012–13, he spent his first season abroad with HV71 of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). After completing his first year in Sweden, he joined fellow SHL side Växjö Lakers, where he played from 2013 to 2015, helping win the 2014 Swedish championship. After spending the 2015-16 campaign with his third SHL team, Linköping HC, he signed to continue his SHL career with the Malmö Redhawks in June 2016. In 2018 Rakshani signed a three-year contract with the Gothenburg-based SHL team Frölunda Indians.

After 10 seasons in the SHL, Rakhshani left Sweden as a free agent and was signed to a one-year contract by the German club Grizzlys Wolfsburg of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL), on May 26, 2022. However, on December 14, he announced his retirement after his wife was diagnosed with cancer.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 2004–05 US NTDP Juniors NAHL 40 12 15 27 21 9 1 4 5 2 2004–05 US NTDP U17 USDP 14 6 5 11 32 — — — — — 2005–06 US NTDP U18 USDP 43 11 12 23 30 — — — — — 2005–06 US NTDP U18 NAHL 16 13 13 26 35 — — — — — 2006–07 University of Denver WCHA 40 10 26 36 38 — — — — — 2007–08 University of Denver WCHA 37 14 14 28 52 — — — — — 2008–09 University of Denver WCHA 38 15 22 37 50 — — — — — 2009–10 University of Denver WCHA 41 21 29 50 40 — — — — — 2009–10 Bridgeport Sound Tigers AHL 5 0 2 2 2 5 0 0 0 2 2010–11 New York Islanders NHL 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 2010–11 Bridgeport Sound Tigers AHL 66 24 38 62 32 — — — — — 2011–12 New York Islanders NHL 5 0 0 0 2 — — — — — 2011–12 Bridgeport Sound Tigers AHL 49 20 29 49 42 3 1 0 1 0 2012–13 HV71 SEL 52 14 25 39 46 5 1 4 5 4 2013–14 Växjö Lakers SHL 55 13 25 38 26 12 3 6 9 12 2014–15 Växjö Lakers SHL 51 6 12 18 37 18 8 4 12 8 2015–16 Linköping HC SHL 33 14 15 29 14 5 0 1 1 2 2016–17 Malmö Redhawks SHL 41 15 12 27 22 13 5 3 8 8 2017–18 Malmö Redhawks SHL 37 9 22 31 24 10 2 4 6 10 2018–19 Frölunda HC SHL 38 9 12 21 30 16 4 13 17 6 2019–20 Frölunda HC SHL 36 10 15 25 57 — — — — — 2020–21 Djurgårdens IF SHL 35 11 17 28 33 3 1 1 2 2 2021–22 Djurgårdens IF SHL 50 11 15 26 14 — — — — — 2022–23 Grizzlys Wolfsburg DEL 21 5 7 12 4 — — — — — NHL totals 7 0 0 0 2 — — — — — SHL totals 428 112 170 282 303 82 24 36 60 52

International Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM 2005 United States U17 5 3 1 4 2 2006 United States WJC18 5th 6 5 1 6 4 2008 United States WJC 4th 6 2 2 4 2 Junior totals 17 10 4 14 8

Awards and honors Award Year College All-WCHA Third Team 2008–09 All-WCHA First Team 2009–10 AHCA West First-Team All-American 2009–10 SHL Le Mat Trophy champion 2015, 2019