Hurricanes Staal Leaves Game, Will Not Return
Jordan Staal suffered an upper-body-injury during the first period of Carolina’s game this evening against Florida and it has since been announced by the team – via Twitter – that he will not return. Michael Smith, who is a contributor on the team’s website, added that Staal did not see a shift in the final seven minutes of the frame.
Staal is currently tied for third on the team in goals with five and his nine points rank sixth. He leads all Carolina forwards in average ice time, seeing 19:15 a night. The 28-year-old center has seven years remaining on what was originally a 10-year, $60MM contract in Carolina. The $6MM AAV makes Staal the Hurricanes highest-paid player.
More to come as details emerge.
Full List Of Mandatory-Protection Players In Expansion Draft
Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston has published the full list of players who, due to no-movement clauses in their current contracts, must be protected in the upcoming expansion draft for the new Vegas Golden Knights. These are players who will count against the protection limits should they choose not to waive their NMC rights prior to the draft.
Each team has the right to protect either:
A) Seven forwards, three defenders, one goaltender
or
B) Eight skaters, one goaltender
These players will count against those numbers, and as Johnston points out, there are some notable inclusions and omissions from this group. Players like Jordan Staal, Rick Nash and Bobby Ryan all had incorrect information spread about their contracts. The former two will now need protection, while the latter will not, due to his deal only having a no-movement to the minors clause.
The Chicago Blackhawks, with eight players listed, will have little flexibility at the draft, with only four forward spots (or one defenseman) left to use. Many others, according to Johnston, including Toronto’s Nathan Horton, are likely to be made exempt if they are still on LTIR as the draft approaches.
Carolina’s Jordan Staal Talks About The Upcoming Season
Although he just turned 28 earlier this month, Jordan Staal has nearly 700 NHL games under his belt and is one of the most experienced players for the Hurricanes heading into 2016-17. He spoke with 99.9 The Fan ESPN Radio over the weekend to talk about the upcoming season. Adam Gold of WRALSportsFan transcribed some of the highlights:
On not having his brother (Eric) around for the first time in Jordan’s tenure with Carolina:
“I’ve always had Eric five minutes down the road here, so for him not to be here, especially for my wife and kids, it’s different….it’s definitely a new chapter for our families, but that’s the way it goes sometimes and we’ll move forward.”
Eric Staal was dealt to the Rangers (where one of his other brothers, Marc Staal) plays prior to the trade deadline last season. He moved on to Minnesota this summer, inking a three year, $10.5MM deal with the Wild that could turn into one of the better bargains of the offseason if he can show signs of returning to his past form.
On how he has changed since being acquired by the team:
“I’m much stronger mentally. There are still times when I beat myself up a little too much, and that impacts my game negatively, but I’m getting better at that. It’s always a work-in-progress.”
Staal was acquired by Carolina back at the 2012 draft for a package that yielded the Penguins defensemen Brian Dumoulin and Derrick Pouliot as well as center Brandon Sutter.