The captain is staying and it's now officially official, as the Carolina Hurricanes announced Sunday morning that Jordan Staal signed a four-year, $11.6 million contract extension that will tie the Canes' captain to the team through the 2026-27 season.
“Obviously it’s where I want to be," Staal said in a media availability following the signing. "I feel like we’ve got some unfinished business and I’m just super excited to be part of this organization and this group of guys. Just everything about it fit everything that I wanted to finish off my career with. I’m excited about it and it’s going to be a lot of fun and a lot of good future memories.”
Staal's deal has a $2.9 million AAV cap hit and includes a full NMC for the first three years and a full NTC for the final year.
Staal's salary in his final season is also only $775,000 which means if he can't finish out his final year, the Hurricanes will have a negligible cost to their cap space and no penalty since it is not a 35+ contract.
“There’s not a whole lot of guys that keep playing after a contract like this, but we’ll see when we get to the end of it," Staal said. "Obviously it’s at the tailend of my career, but I’m ready to grind, ready to play. I feel really good about my game and I feel like I can help the team for the rest of this contract and I’m going to do my best to my abilities. If it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out, but I believe I can do it. I’m excited about the deal and where this team’s headed and their direction."
While Staal's role on the team currently is apparent as their go-to shutdown and matchup center, he understands that his role might change as he ages with this contract.
“I would love more ice time, for sure," Staal said with a chuckle. "Maybe a little power play time, that’d be great. My role can change that way too.
"I’m just kidding, but we’ll see how it goes. It’s year-by-year, game-by-game. That’s how it’s always been. We have a really good team and a lot of really good players and you need that to win. I’m going to fit in wherever I need to fit in. I feel like I’ve done that the last few years especially and I’ve just accepted my role and really just try to help the team and help the fellas play to the best of their abilities and win games. That’s all I’m here for and if that’s what I’ve gotta do to help us win, that’s what I’m gonna do.”
Staal's signing is the first offseason move for the Hurricanes so far, with still plenty more that need to be taken care of such as addressing their goaltending vacancies, filling out the remainder of the roster, and continuing to hammer out contract negotiations with core pieces like Sebastian Aho and Brett Pesce.
“When you have really good teams and with a hard cap, it’s just hard to keep everyone," Staal said in regards to some of the team's other contract extension negotiations. "You want to and that’s what we’re going to try to do obviously, but you understand both sides as a player. I think there’s a lot of players in that room... the core group of that room understands that we haven’t quite finished the job that we set out to do as a core and I feel like there’s some ability to keep everyone and really get the job done and kind of push us over the hump here. I’m definitely hoping that we can keep everyone and we’re going to try to do that.”
There was never any real concern over whether or not a deal was going to get done - despite what some media might have said - as Staal and Carolina's management had been pretty adamant that they wanted to see the Thunder Bay native stay for the remainder of his career.
“There was no other place I’d want to be," Staal said. "The scenario was just set up perfectly. We’ve got a great team, a lot of good, young players and I’ve watched them grow up and become stars and it’s been fun to be a part of that. The community itself, for my family and how much they’ve fallen in love with Raleigh. All my kids are calling it home and I don’t blame them because it’s a great place and we all love it. It’s been a blessing to be a part of the same team for so long. I’m very proud and honored that they want to bring me back for a few more years and I’m excited about being a part of it.
"I want to keep going and I’m ready for it, my family’s ready for it. We love Carolina, my kids love it there and it’s just been such a blessing to be a part of such a great organization for so long. Just happy to still be kicking the can and getting another take at it to try and get another run here.”