Yeah...sorry, I didn't see this thread the first time around or else I would've posted that he's basically had all his ties cut with the Lightning after telling them he wasn't interested in coming back, and he's gone back to school, as dev_49 said. There was an article floating around somewhere as well that talked about how he felt like his focus on hockey took him away from living the life he wanted to live at his age, and his heart was no longer in it as a result.
Most of what I posted above was probably unverified, since I don't think he's been very vocal about the whole thing.
It takes a lot for someone to be so skilled at something to the point of making it look easy, and then admit they made a mistake and walk away from that much on the table in order to pursue something else. If he's done forever, which I suspect he is, Ranger probably lost 30-40 million over his hockey career to do it. You have to admire his honesty.
