SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Veteran ahead Eric Staal and the Florida Panthers have agreed to phrases on a one-year, $750,000 contract, a deal that makes him a teammate once more along with his youthful brother Marc Staal.
Eric Staal is not going to play in Florida’s recreation Friday evening in opposition to the Tampa Bay Lightning, Panthers coach Paul Maurice stated. It’s the second time that Maurice and Eric Staal have been paired; Maurice coached him for 5 seasons with the Carolina Hurricanes.
“There’s so much to this man … character, leadership, the love of the game — pure love of the game and the love of the idea of winning — I think he’s great for what’s still a relatively young core here,” Maurice stated. “It’s who he is, as a man, how he trains, how he competes, how he practices, how he chirps out there, how he’s just wired right in. It just makes our organization better.”
Eric Staal — a member of hockey’s “Triple Gold” membership after successful an Olympic gold medal, a world championships gold medal and a Stanley Cup — turns 38 later this month. That places him on goal to be the fourth-oldest skater to seem in a recreation this season, behind Toronto’s Mark Giordano (39), Dallas’ Joe Pavelski (38), and the New York Islanders’ Zach Parise (38).
Eric Staal had been with Florida for the reason that summer season on a participant tryout contract, had by all accounts an distinctive coaching camp — “best shape of his life,” Maurice stated — and remained skating with the Panthers as a non-rostered participant in latest days as a result of the group merely didn’t have the cap room to make a transfer.
But with defenseman Aaron Ekblad on long-term injured reserve and out till mid-November on the earliest, the Panthers discovered a strategy to squeeze Eric Staal into the combo.
“All of us, we’re excited that he’s officially a Panther and we’re excited to get going with him,” Panthers ahead Ryan Lomberg stated. “He brings a lot. First and foremost, obviously, leadership. He’s a guy who’s been around for a while and knows everything about everything.”
The transfer means Florida now formally has three Staal brothers inside its group. Marc Staal is on a one-year deal with the Panthers and Jared Staal, who appeared in two NHL video games as a participant, is an assistant coach with the Charlotte Checkers — the Panthers’ AHL affiliate.
And that is hardly the primary time {that a} group has discovered a strategy to get a number of members of the Staal household on a roster.
Eric Staal and Marc Staal have been NHL teammates as soon as earlier than, enjoying 22 video games collectively — 17 within the common season, 5 within the playoffs — for the New York Rangers on the finish of the 2015-16 season.
Eric Staal and Jordan Staal have been teammates with the Carolina franchise for components of 4 seasons, spanning 2012 by means of 2016. There have been cases of the Staal brothers enjoying collectively for Team Canada as nicely; Eric and Jordan have been collectively for the group that received gold on the 2007 world championships and competed within the 2013 worlds.
Florida turns into Eric Staal’s sixth franchise, becoming a member of Carolina, Minnesota, the Rangers, Buffalo and Montreal. He has 441 targets, 593 assists and 1,034 factors in 1,293 profession regular-season video games.
He final appeared in a recreation on July 7, 2021 for Montreal in opposition to Tampa Bay in that season’s Stanley Cup Final.
“Eric is an experienced leader in this league and a tremendous competitor,” Panthers common supervisor Bill Zito stated. “His professionalism and veteran mind-set will add value to our locker room on and off the ice.”
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