Hurricanes Finalizing Extension With Jordan Staal
The Hurricanes are finally paying someone! At a further glance, it appears to be a major hometown discount. We wondered whether Carolina would extend Jordan Staal given his advanced age and their hesitancy to pay players. Nevertheless, they found a way to keep Staal in the end. The veteran center will be returning to Carolina this upcoming season.
Elliotte Friedman was the first to report the news of an extension.
Hearing Carolina and Jordan Staal are indeed closing on an extension. Whatever hurdles existed are being cleared
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) June 24, 2023
NorthStar Bets’ Chris Johnston later added that the deal is expected to be four years, $3 million range.
The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun has reported the extension worth $ 2.9 million per season.
Staal, 35, is still one of the best third line shutdown guys in the league. That’s his calling card and his player card says just that. The guy carves in the faceoff circle and is a game wrecker on defense.
Jordan Staal will re-sign with the Hurricanes for four years at roughly $3M. He's a veteran shutdown centre, but you already knew that. #LetsGoCanes pic.twitter.com/RgfxtxHBdO
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) June 24, 2023
What an absolute bargain of a contract. It’s a ridiculous pay cut from what Staal was earning on his last deal. Staal’s old deal that was signed in 2012 was for 10 years and $60 million. It’s not just a pay cut. This might be the biggest hometown discount we’ve seen since the Patrice Bergeron deal a year ago. Staal has made his money so he clearly just wants to win at this point.
In 2022, Staal posted 17 goals and 34 points in 81 regular season games. You will take that production without question when you factor in what Staal does on the defensive side. This deal will take Staal through his age 38 season but this isn’t really a player that relies on speed. This guy can sleep walk his way to winning a faceoff at this point.
Overall, a really good deal for Carolina which was entering this offseason with nearly $25 in cap space. Now go pay Brett Pesce.
