Eric Staal signs one-day contract with Carolina, officially retiring. Team to retire his number this season.

[Felidae]

All of Eric Staal's goals.

 

[lawrence]

Eric Staal won me my 2006 hockey pool.

I drafted him with my last pick in my hockey pool. he came off a weak 27 point season so he was unknown. But I saw a superstar in him.

 

[BHD]

Not his fault ownership seemingly refused to spend money and put a good team around him.

He was still 'The Guy', and did not play like it on a number of nights.

 

[Nogatco Rd]

Didn’t pay much attention to him in 22-23 but just saw he put up 14G 15A in 72 games for Florida.

Was it a surprise he didn’t get signed this past season or did his game really fall off towards the end?

 

[Hippasus]

Didn’t pay much attention to him in 22-23 but just saw he put up 14G 15A in 72 games for Florida.

Was it a surprise he didn’t get signed this past season or did his game really fall off towards the end?

I didn't see him much that year either but I thought he was often at the right places, although a little slow. Sort of like Corey Perry with Edmonton this last season but with less sandpaper.

 

[njdevils1982]

Eric Staal won me my 2006 hockey pool.

I drafted him with my last pick in my hockey pool. he came off a weak 27 point season so he was unknown. But I saw a superstar in him.

he has never had a 27 point season

 

[lawrence]

he has never had a 27 point season

31. My bad.

 

[Stephen]

Eric Staal set such a high bar for himself at the conclusion of the 2005-06 season. 100 points in the regular season, Conn Smythe worthy run en route to a Stanley Cup and only 22 years old, classic 6’3” do it all franchise center. At that moment he probably carried one of the highest trade values for any player post lockout and maybe even post expansion.

He had a great career anyway but that was a special start.

 

[lawrence]

Eric Staal set such a high bar for himself at the conclusion of the 2005-06 season. 100 points in the regular season, Conn Smythe worthy run en route to a Stanley Cup and only 22 years old, classic 6’3” do it all franchise center. At that moment he probably carried one of the highest trade values for any player post lockout and maybe even post expansion.

He had a great career anyway but that was a special start.

leaving him out of the 2006 olympic team was a sham.

 

[sr edler]

I remember his mugshot from 2007-ish, after him and his brother got arrested for misdemeanour disorderly conduct. He still managed to have impeccable hair.

 

[Demon Wolf]

Great career. As a Habs fan - Montreal got him a decade too late and he looked absolutely finished as a hockey player in the regular season when he finally suited up for us - however he reanimated in the playoffs leading to the Cup final run.

 

[Beukeboom Fan]

Is he? He played 1200+ games and had a resurgence In Minnesota. However, isn't his legacy that he left something to be desired during those post-Cup years in Carolina?

Don't think this is necessarily fair. He might not have been a superstar, but much of his career was hampered by an organization that I felt learned the wrong lesson from the lighting in a bottle run to the Cup.

Glad that he's able to go back to CAR where he was an elite player. Kind of easy to have the recency bias over the many stops after CAR where he wasn't the same player he was for the Canes.

 

[JackSlater]

Is he? He played 1200+ games and had a resurgence In Minnesota. However, isn't his legacy that he left something to be desired during those post-Cup years in Carolina?

Yeah, in my eyes Staal should have been a top ten player for a few years but he never got there. Low motor player. When he was on though he could dominate a game or a stretch of several games.

The one day contracts are beyond stupid but I do think that his jersey retirement is a very valid decision. Probably the most important player on Carolina's one Stanley Cup team.

 

[LemonSauceD]

Not his fault ownership seemingly refused to spend money and put a good team around him.

It’s a Carolina thing.

 

[Beukeboom Fan]

Yeah, in my eyes Staal should have been a top ten player for a few years but he never got there. Low motor player. When he was on though he could dominate a game or a stretch of several games.

The one day contracts are beyond stupid but I do think that his jersey retirement is a very valid decision. Probably the most important player on Carolina's one Stanley Cup team.

Don't necessarily agree the "low motor" player - but some guys look like they might not be giving it 100% because they're so smooth on the ice, and that was always my feeling with ES.

It did make me think though - in an earlier Pavelski thread I posted how much I respected him for absolutely maxing out his potential by giving it literally 100% (and not the BS sports cliche). Interesting to me my evaluation of those guys vary just based on how I perceived their effort level on the ice.

 

[JackSlater]

Don't necessarily agree the "low motor" player - but some guys look like they might not be giving it 100% because they're so smooth on the ice, and that was always my feeling with ES.

It did make me think though - in an earlier Pavelski thread I posted how much I respected him for absolutely maxing out his potential by giving it literally 100% (and not the BS sports cliche). Interesting to me my evaluation of those guys vary just based on how I perceived their effort level on the ice.

I'd definitely classify Staal as a low mtor player, even to the point of being lazy. Pavelski is a good comparison. Staal was way more talented than Pavelski, but Pavelski was a much harder worker. Staal with Pavelski's work ethic and motor would have been a top five player in the NHL for years.

 

[Chuck Norris Trophy]

Always felt the LBI he had after being on the cover of the EA release (was that '07 or '08?) robbed him of some of his separation speed and he wasn't ever quite to the level he was at pre-injury.

LBI?

 

[Beukeboom Fan]

LBI?

Lower Body Injury.

 

[ShootIt]

I have 3 thoughts:

1. Number retirement is clearly deserved.
[MOD]
3. Does anybody else think these one-day contracts are kind of silly?

The mod edit reminds me of the Profit meme from South Park lol

 

[Svechhammer]

Not his fault ownership seemingly refused to spend money and put a good team around him.

You are 100% right on this one. His numbers suffered because he was stuck as a captain and face of the franchise player for an organization whose owner was busy slashing every cost he could to run everything on a shoestring budget to pocket as much cash as he could before he would be forced to sell. This was the era of Karmanos going to the local media saying the fans were the reason the team wasn't competitive, and not his unwillingness to spend above the Cap floor in any given season.

Say what you want about Dundon, but we are a team that spends to the cap every year and while we haven't been in position to draft an elite player at least we're maximizing competitive play across all our lines. Early 2010s Eric Staal would have done great here under the current regime, as he wouldn't have been tasked with needing to win games all by himself. Dude absolutely deserves the honor of having his number in the rafters, he (and Cam Ward, who I fully expect to have a number retirement announced soon) was the only consistently good thing about the franchise through our darkest years.

 

[57special]

Had a low key, sneaky good shot. Was a legit #1C in MN for a year or two, then faded a bit. Think it took his enthusiasm for the game away when he was traded to BUF... he was on a very reasonable, team friendly deal because he wanted to stay in MN, and was a victim of new management coming in and wanting to make a change for changes sake.

 

[Voight]

Didn’t pay much attention to him in 22-23 but just saw he put up 14G 15A in 72 games for Florida.

Was it a surprise he didn’t get signed this past season or did his game really fall off towards the end?

Could be that he only wanted to play on the East Coast/close to his family (which, I would guess lives in Raleigh) and no team within that a real wanted to sign him.

 

[Theodore450]

Great player, great career.

2nd best Staal brother.

Is this even up for debate?

I feel like Eric is a way better player.
Career and peak

 

[57special]

Could be that he only wanted to play on the East Coast/close to his family (which, I would guess lives in Raleigh) and no team within that a real wanted to sign him.

His family did live in suburban Minneapolis for quite a while after he was traded. Not sure if he is still there. He liked being close to his Thunder Bay roots, and the very Northern Ontario like vibe of Minnesota.

 

[Menzinger]

Teams should do this sort of thing more often