Rangers legend Henrik Lundqvist, who agreed to a deal with the Washington Capitals earlier this offseason, announced Thursday that he will not be joining the Capitals this season due to a heart condition.

Here is Lundqvist's full announcement:

"It breaks my heart (literally) to share this news. I will not be joining the Capitals this upcoming season. After many weeks of tests and conversations with specialists around the country, it's been determined that a heart condition will prevent me from taking the ice. Together, we have decided that the risk of playing before remedying my condition is too high. So I will spend the coming months figuring out the best course of action.

"For the past 2 months I've been so inspired by the opportunity to play in DC and committed to my game, spending every day at the rink to prepare for the upcoming season. The news was very difficult to process but after the last test result earlier this week we knew there was only one way to go from here.

"I want to thank the entire Capitals organization for not only giving me this opportunity but also for their support throughout this challenging time. I will take the next few weeks to be with my family and I'll be ack to share the next steps."

Lundqvist spent 15 years with the Rangers before signing a one-year deal with the Caps.

During the 2019-20 season, Lundqvist's playing time began to dwindle as the Rangers usually started rookie Igor Shesterkin or Alexandar Georgiev in goal.

The Rangers bought Lundqvist out in September, but he said at the time that he was not yet ready to retire. He then quickly reached a deal with the Caps.

Lundqvist, who has the most wins and shutouts in Rangers franchise history, was a stalwart in goal from the 2005-06 season to 2018-19.

He was also tremendous in the playoffs, falling just short a few times of helping to lead the Rangers to their first Stanley Cup title since 1993-94.

Lundqvist's Rangers lost in five games to the Los Angeles Kings in the Stanley Cup Final in 2013-14 and lost in the Conference Finals to the New Jersey Devils in 2011-12 (in six games) and Tampa Bay Lightning in 2014-15 (in seven games). Those seasons were the closest Lundqvist got to hoisting the cup.

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