Perhaps "retires" isn't the operative word, but bittersweet news today out of the Steel. Second-year captain and third-year defenseman Joel Benson is walking away from hockey, effective immediately.
While this does answer the question about the roster logjam with Christian Neumann being activated from the IR, it's still a rather sad story.
From a personal standpoint, I truly wish he'd gotten a scholarship before he had to give up on hockey due to medical reasons. Always an incredibly nice, hard-working member of the team, it's sad to see him go.
Having talked to his parents, I know he was really excited about this year, too. Benson hadn't been a part of a winning team for many, many seasons. Presumably, Jaccob Slavin is now the lone captain on the team.
Benson leaves the Steel with 116 games played, 12 goals, 14 assists, 228 penalty minutes, and as arguably one of the best long-term uses of a 1st round draft in franchise history.
Best of luck to Joel in whatever he pursues. He's a good kid making a very tough decision, but one that will likely wind up being the right one in the long run.
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