The New York Rangers finally got their man. In what was rumored for quite a while, Eric Staal lifted his no-trade-clause to rejoin his brother mark in New York leaving his other brother Jordan in Carolina. On Sunday the Rangers acquired centreman Eric Staal from the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for a pair of second-round picks, in 2016 and 2017, and Finnish prospect Aleksi Saarela.
The initial rumor had Staal for power forward Chris Kreider, but the rangers wanted to keep Kreider who played well for them in past playoff games.
Staal, 31, played in 909 career NHL gams with the Hurricanes. He was drafted second overall at the 2003 NHL Entry Draft. Staal was part of the 2006 edition of the Carolina Hurricanes that won the Stanley Cup. In 2015-2016, Staal recorded 10 goals and 33 points in 63 games.
The Hurricane captain has a cap hit of $8.25 million and a salary of $9.5 million this season. According to Pieere Lebrun TSN NHL Insider Trading panelist, he reported the Hurricanes will retain 50 per cent of Staal’s salary and cap hit, the maximum percentage allowed under league rules.
“Eric has been the face of this franchise for a long time, and we thank him for his dedication, leadership and many contributions on and off the ice over the years,” Hurricanes general manager Ron Francis said in a release. “We felt this was an important opportunity for us to continue our work in building an organization that can consistently compete in the Stanley Cup playoffs.”
Staal’s career numbers are very eloquent with 322 goals for 775 points. He is second in all point categories for the Hurricanes behind Hall-of-Famer Ron Francis.
As for Saarela, he was taken in the third round of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft out of Assat in the Finnish Liiga. The 19-year-old was a part of the gold-medal winning team at the 2016 World Junior Hockey Championship where he scored four goals and added three assists.
