Over the NHL’s 107-year history, the league has undergone hundreds of rule changes. One major modification to the game was the 1979 mandate that all players entering the league from then on had to wear helmets. The league has further enhanced player safety since then, instituting a rule ahead of the 2013-14 season that all players with 25 or fewer games played were required to affix a visor to their helmets.
Moving forward a decade, only four players, grandfathered in by their games played before the rule was adopted, continue to play in the league without a visor: Ryan O’Reilly (NSH), Zach Bogosian (MIN), Jamie Benn (DAL), and Ryan Reaves (TOR).
Only four visorless players remain in the NHL. Soon to be extinct 🪖
(h/t u/lzakei) pic.twitter.com/fM8aGFz65g
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) October 20, 2024
The number of visorless players decreased by eight over the past two offseasons. Ahead of the 2023-24 campaign, the unshielded Zdeno Chara, Ryan Getzlaf, Joe Thornton, and Brian Boyle all retired from the NHL. Before the current 2024-25 season, Jordie Benn and Zack Kassian retired, while Matt Martin and Milan Lucic remain unsigned free agents.
At 33 years old, O’Reilly is the youngest of the remaining bunch and has the longest left on his current contract (signed through 2026-27). In addition to his still present effectiveness as a shutdown center, these factors make the former Conn Smythe, Selke, and Lady Byng award winner the likeliest to be the final visorless player in NHL history.
Reaves and Benn have suffered significant facial injuries in the past due to their desire to play without a visor. Benn had his nose broken by a high stick from Capitals defenseman Dmitry Orlov back in 2017, while Reaves scarily had his face cut by a skate during a 2018 practice.
The uptick in the use of visors first surged leaguewide when defenseman Bryan Berard, former first overall pick in the 1995 NHL Draft, took a stick blade to the eye that resulted in a retinal tear and detached retina. Berard missed the entire 2000-01 season, had to undergo seven eye surgeries, and was only permitted to return to the league after having special contact lenses made so he could meet the minimal vision requirement.
However, eye injuries can still occur despite the use of visors. Carl Hagelin, a veteran of 713 NHL games, had his career cut short by an errant high stick during a Capitals practice that ruptured the choroid in the back of his left eye. Hagelin, notably, wore his visor with a severe upward tilt, limiting its effectiveness.
