Forward Chris Neil has called it a career after 15 seasons with the Ottawa Senators.

The 38-year-old announced he was stepping away at a news conference Thursday morning alongside general manager Pierre Dorion and assistant general manager Randy Lee.

Neil played in 53 games for Ottawa a season ago, scoring one goal and adding three assists. He has not played this season after he and the Sens mutually agreed to part ways but did not officially announce his retirement until Thursday.

He will play in the Senators outdoor alumni game on Parliament Hill on Friday night. 

Neil’s 1,026 games with the Senators ranks third all-time behind Chris Phillips (1,179) and Daniel Alfredsson (1,178). He has 112 goals, 138 assists and 2,522 penalty minutes over the course of his career.

"Chris Neil exemplifies the best qualities of both our city and the Senators franchise," Senators owner Eugene Melnyk said in a statement. "His career personified grit, drive and resilience; there was never a day that he was not there for his teammates. Chris earned everything he achieved in the league through his hard work and dedication to the game and he will go down in history as one of the great character players to ever wear the Senators jersey."

On Thursday, Dorion called Neil the toughest and grittiest Senator of all-time while pointing out Neil was never suspended during his career.

Neil was offered a professional tryout with the Montreal Canadiens this summer, but declined.

“I was not going to go on a PTO,” he told the Ottawa Sun. “They know what I can do. For me to go in there, with young guys challenging you all the time (in exhibition games) … it’s not as hard as it used to be, but I wasn’t doing that.”