Jeff Carter announced his retirement from the NHL after playing his final game for the Pittsburgh Penguins on April 17, 2024, a 5-4 loss at the New York Islanders. He had 851 points (442 goals, 409 assists) in 1,321 games across 19 seasons with the Philadelphia Flyers, Columbus Blue Jackets, Los Angeles Kings and Penguins.

Pure goal-scorers are treasured assets for an NHL team, and Carter was in demand because he is a sniper of the highest order.

Solidly built at 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds, the London, Ontario, native built his game around putting the puck into the net. A first-round pick (No. 11) of the Flyers in the 2003 NHL Draft, Carter used his strong skating ability and a hard, accurate shot to become a feared scorer.

At age 20, Carter made the Flyers out of training camp before the 2005-06 season and started quickly with six goals and nine points over his first 16 games. That included his first NHL goal, against Roberto Luongo and the Florida Panthers in a 5-4 win Oct. 27, 2005, and his first two-goal game in an 8-1 win against the Washington Capitals on Nov. 3, 2005. Carter's 23 goals that season tied him for seventh among NHL rookies and he appeared in all six of Philadelphia's postseason games in the 2006 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

After finishing 2007-08 tied for third on the Flyers with 29 goals, Carter scored his first NHL playoff point with a goal in Game 2 of Philadelphia's first-round series with Washington in 2008. He finished Philadelphia's run to the 2008 Eastern Conference Final fourth on the team with six playoff goals and fifth with 11 points.

In 2008-09, Carter, a center/wing, earned his first All-Star Game selection and finished the season second in the NHL with 46 goals. He got his first NHL hat trick as part of a four-point game against the Toronto Maple Leafs on April 3, 2009, and had a League-high 12 game-winning goals that season.

After leading Philadelphia in goals for a third straight season in 2010-11, Carter was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets on June 23, 2011, for Jakub Voracek and a first- and third-round draft pick in 2011. The Blue Jackets named Carter an alternate captain, but he played 39 games with Columbus before being traded to the Kings on Feb. 23, 2012, for Jack Johnson and a first-round draft pick in 2013.

Carter's eight goals for Los Angeles during the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs helped the Kings win their first championship and tied him for the NHL lead. After finishing fourth in the League with 26 goals during the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season, Carter was second on the Kings with 10 goals and 25 points in the 2014 playoffs as Los Angeles won its second title in three seasons.

Carter had 383 points (194 goals, 189 assists) in 580 games with Los Angeles before being traded to Pittsburgh on April 12, 2021, playing third-line center behind Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin in his first three of four seasons with the Penguins. He embraced a fourth-line role during his final NHL season, finishing with 15 points (11 goals, four assists) in 72 games mostly at right wing.

Carter also had plenty of highlights in international play, including scoring three goals and five points in six games for Canada's gold medal-winning team at the 2014 Olympics, and scoring seven goals in six games to help Canada win gold at the 2005 World Junior Championship.