Jack Campbell has entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistant Program

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Daniel Lucente
October 4, 2024 (3:58 PM)

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In some bad news coming out of the NHL today, Detroit Red Wings goaltender Jack Campbell will be stepping away as he enters the NHLPA Player Assistance program.

The Detroit Red Wings' Jack Campbell will receive some care from the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program, the league announced, as he is stepping away from hockey to deal with personal issues. Jack Campbell, 32, will be unavailable to the Red Wings organization during this time, and he can return once the program administrators clear him for on-ice competition, with the timeline being unknown at the moment.

Jack Campbell's time with the Toronto Maple Leafs was the defining point in his career. The Leafs acquired Campbell from the Los Angeles Kings in February 2020, where he then continued to address some poor goaltending depth issues of Toronto. Campbell quickly etched a spot into the hearts of many Leafs fans thanks to his strong play and likable personality. In the 2020-2021 season, Campbell set a franchise record by winning 11 consecutive games, proving to be a reliable starter. This had him finish the season with an extraordinary 17-3-2 record and a .921 save percentage. Humble as always, Campbell's emotional interviews and calm demeanor made him an ultimate fan favorite. He stood tall in the net as the Leafs lost to the Montreal Canadiens in the first round of the playoffs, but many compliments came his way for that series.

Starting the year out with incredible statistics, Jack Campbell was chosen for the NHL All-Star Game in the 2021-2022 season. He struggled to maintain that in the second half of that season due to injury and inconsistency but still finished with a .914 save percentage. Following the 2021-2022 season, Campbell became a free agent and signed a five-year contract with the Edmonton Oilers, thus ending his time with Toronto.

Jack Campbell's time with the Edmonton Oilers began in July of 2022 after signing that five-year contract for $25 million to take over the starting goaltender role. Coming off an exceptional season with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Campbell was expected to solidify the goal for the Oilers and support a high-powered offense featuring Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Still, Campbell's first season in Edmonton was quite up and down. While he did produce a 21-9-4 record, his overall performance was subpar. He posted a .888 save percentage and a 3.41 goals-against average, both of which were well below what one would wish for in a starting goaltender. As such, he often found himself time-sharing with the company's rookie goaltender Stuart Skinner, who slowly started stealing more and more starts as the year wore on. In the playoffs, Jack Campbell was relegated to backup duty as Stuart Skinner became the team's main man between the pipes. At times, Campbell was brilliant in relief for the Oilers during their postseason run that took them to the second round but wasn't consistently strong.

Jack Campbell signed with the Red Wings during the off-season after the Edmonton Oilers bought out the remainder of his contract, however, due to him entering the Player Assistance Program, his debut with the team is going to have to wait a little while longer. We wish Jack the very best during this time and we look forward to seeing him on the ice in due course.