Report: Devils' Salvador likely to announce retirement by end of week

The captain appears set to hang up his skates.

Free-agent defenseman Bryce Salvador is expected to decide on his hockey future later this week, with retirement likely to be the ultimate decision, according to Tom Gulitti of Fire and Ice.

Salvador has spent the past six seasons with the New Jersey Devils, and has served as captain since January 2013.

"We'll probably have some news later in the week on Bryce and we'll kind of see what direction he is going," Devils general manager Ray Shero said Tuesday. "I don't anticipate this will be a situation that's ongoing for a lot longer one way or the other. I anticipate that relatively soon there will be some sort of information."

Salvador, 39, missed the final 67 games of the 2014-15 season due to a bulging disc and nerve damage in his back. He has split his career between the Devils and St. Louis Blues, recording 24 goals and 86 assists in 786 games since entering the league in 2000.