Hurricanes trade captain Eric Staal to New York Rangers
RALEIGH, N.C. – Eric Staal gets to play with another brother, and the New York Rangers are loading up for the playoffs.
The Rangers acquired Carolina’s captain and the face of the Hurricanes franchise on Sunday.
In exchange for Staal, the Rangers sent center Aleksi Saarela, who is currently playing in his native Finland, to Carolina along with New York’s second-round picks in each of the next two drafts.
Rangers general manager Jeff Gorton said the Hurricanes retained a portion of Staal’s $8.25 million cap hit, and New York has enough financial flexibility to add another “small-salary player if we wanted to.”
The Rangers trail first-place Washington by 16 points in the Metropolitan Division standings.
“We felt like he was one of the best, if not the best, player available on the market to give us what we’re looking for in our top nine,” Gorton said. “And that’s why we made the move.”
Staal leaves one younger brother, Jordan Staal, and will be united with another brother, Marc, who plays defense for the Rangers. A fourth Staal brother, Jared, is playing with South Carolina of the ECHL and had been in the Hurricanes’ organization.
The deal – finalized about an hour before the Hurricanes hosted the St. Louis Blues and a day before the NHL trade deadline – wasn’t a total surprise from Carolina’s perspective.
The 31-year-old Staal had spent his entire 12-year career with the Hurricanes, who drafted him with the second overall pick in 2003.
He is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, once the final year of his seven-year, $55.75 million contract expires, and Carolina GM Ron Francis said he and Staal couldn’t agree on a new deal.
After a rocky start, Carolina mounted a late push for its first playoff berth since 2009 but has lost five of seven. The Hurricanes were four points behind Pittsburgh for the final wild-card spot with the Penguins having four games in hand.
“This group has played some really good hockey from December to this point, and they’re working hard, and you never want to have to do this,” Francis said. “But when you look at the big picture, and we couldn’t get comfortable on a contract term, then you can’t lose an asset like that for nothing. It’s too important to your franchise moving forward.”
The trade leaves goalie Cam Ward – who earned the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2006 as the franchise won its only Stanley Cup – as the only Hurricane left from any of the club’s playoff teams.
Staal leaves one younger brother, Jordan Staal, and will be united with another brother, Marc, who plays defense for the Rangers. A fourth Staal brother, Jared, is playing with South Carolina of the ECHL and had been in the Hurricanes’ organization.