It’s been all quiet on the Western Front for Eric Staal for over a year now. The free-agent center reached the Stanley Cup Final with the Panthers in 2023 but didn’t sign or play anywhere last season.
On Tuesday, Staal confirmed he’d played his last NHL game, signing a one-day contract with Carolina to retire as a Hurricane. The Canes will also retire Staal’s No. 12 at a yet-to-be-announced game this season.
“I want to thank my family, former teammates, coaches and staff members who played a role in helping me live my dream, playing in the NHL,” Staal said in a statement released by the team. “I will forever treasure the memories and friendships made during my 18 years in the world’s best league.”
“There was no doubt in my mind that when it became time to hang up my skates, I would want to retire as a Carolina Hurricane,” he continued. “To now also know that the team is retiring my No. 12 is truly humbling and I am extremely grateful and honored.”
Staal, 39, is often overlooked as one of the NHL’s early salary-cap-era stars. But the Thunder Bay, Ontario native was always expected to make an indelible impact on the Canes after being drafted second overall in the famously stacked 2003 draft. While he hasn’t played there in over eight years – his tenure ended with a trade to the Rangers in 2016 – he’s still arguably the most impactful talent in Carolina history since the franchise relocated from Hartford in 1997.
His best came early, erupting as a sophomore in the 2005-06 season to lead the Canes in scoring with 45 goals and 100 points, both career-highs. 21 at the time, Staal was the centerpiece of the Canes’ best season in franchise history to that point, crossing the 50-win and 100-point thresholds for the first time. It ended in glory, adding nine goals and 28 points in 25 playoff games as he led the team in scoring en route to their first and only Stanley Cup.
Over parts of 12 seasons in Raleigh, Staal solidified himself as the Canes’ post-relocation leader in games played (909), goals (322), assists (453), points (775), power-play goals (105), power-play points (252) and hat tricks (13) – hat tip to the team’s Walt Ruff for those stats. He averaged over 20 minutes per game in a Carolina uniform and served as their captain from 2009 to 2016, succeeding franchise pillar Rod Brind’Amour.
Age-related decline came for Staal early, though, and his point totals were steadily decreasing by the time he was traded to the Rangers at age 31. His stay with the Blueshirts didn’t extend past the last few months of the season, and he landed in the State of Hockey with the Wild as a free agent in the summer of 2016. He had a bit of a resurgence in Minnesota, most remembered for a 42-goal, 76-point campaign in 2017-18 that placed him 17th in Hart Trophy voting. But his days of being a dominant top-line threat were behind him.
He played the final few seasons of his career with the Sabres, Canadiens and Panthers, serving as a good veteran depth piece on Montreal and Florida teams that each reached the championship series (2021 and 2023, respectively). But he couldn’t recapture the honor he had nearly two decades ago and was on the losing end of both series.
All in all, Staal wraps up his career with 455 goals, 608 assists and 1,063 points in 1,365 NHL games across 18 seasons. The eldest of the four Staal brothers with NHL experience, including Jared Staal, Jordan Staal and Marc Staal, retires at 76th on the league’s all-time scoring list. All of us at PHR congratulate Staal on a championship-caliber career and wish him the best as he enters the next phase of his hockey career.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Every NYR fan just breathed a sigh of relief
Fine career indeed.
Agreed. Great player and legendary class act. (Was also classy of Paul Maurice to give him and brother Marc shoutouts after Game 7 this year.) Wishing him all the best.
Quite an underrated career, I guess because his best seasons point wise came so early in his career, and partially because he played in a few low profile markets.
Probably will make the HHOF or at least get consideration for it.
Hopefully he takes some pride in that fine career
I see you.
(Trigger warning from the Stick to Sports folks …) Glad to see this homophone gone from the league. After he made his anti-LBGTQ+ beliefs clear, that is all I think about when I hear his name. That goes for the rest of that family. His Meemaw too.
Because they refused to take part in pride night?
Didn’t the LGBT community start out with wanting tolerance and acceptance? Is it required now that everyone is an active participant?
Acceptance means NOT refusing to wear a jersey because you don’t agree with the lifestyle or are religiously opposed. It’s not 1997 anymore.
Do we force people who are not religious to attend church? No we don’t.
People can live whatever lifestyle they deem fit for themselves. Doesn’t mean everyone has to be an active participant.
You’re missing the point. He wasn’t forced to participate. In fact, he chose not to. But people are free to make judgements about people based on their choices. Some people like him more because of his choice, some like him less, and for some it has no impact on their opinion of him. This is true for all of us with all the choices we make.
You’ve missed my point. It’s very clear the poster above believes everyone should be forced to participate. I simply pointed out a different scenario.
If someone doesn’t go to church they don’t get called names or get vilified by a group of people. But hey don’t participate in pride night and you’re automatically a villain and/or worse from some. It’s a complete joke.
They want to be able to express themselves without ridicule but they’re not for giving others the same treatment. Hypocrisy at its finest.
“It’s very clear the poster above believes everyone should be forced to participate.”
@Motowings…It is clear that you inferred that point.
The OP expressed his dislike for Staal but with such crass to provoke those that disagree with him (common trolling tactic).
Not trolling just pointing out hypocrisy. Very common these days from the left.
“If someone doesn’t go to church they don’t get called names or get vilified by a group of people.”
Where have you been the last 2000 or so years?
I mean tolerance and acceptance are two very different things to begin with, to me it’s unreasonable to expect others to accept or endorse lifestyle choices of unrelated parties. Staal in his comments is at least tolerating that others are making a different choice, that he doesn’t agree with.
As for not 1997, why is that even relevant?
So it’s okay to believe one thing but not the other? Okay. Why don’t you just stick to hockey, just like the league should.
Since this is a hockey site, I haven’t been approached by anyone representing the church at a hockey game. However, I have seen booths for pride. I’ve also not seen Christian, Islam, or Jewish nights either. That represents about 90% of the American public, while these other things represent less than 10%. The league should just stick to hockey. Remember great teams, players, series, logos, jerseys, events, etc. Get out of sex lives, religion, and politics. Hockey is supposed to be an escape from all that. Gets your mind off of the serious matters of life for a few hours.
As a side note, I am not religious but respect others opinions and beliefs. I just don’t have to believe in them also.
Nice strawman but ok.
Lol
Nothing in that post implies people should have been forced to participate. It certainly implies that he believes people should have chosen to participate and that he has strong opinions about those who chose not to.
The OP also labelled Staal. Just more hypocrisy.