Marc Staal is the oldest player on the Flyers' roster, and he's looking forward to influencing the young guns.
Marc Staal doesn’t bring fans out of their seats or score highlight-reel, coast-to-coast goals like Connor McDavid does on a regular basis. In fact, it’s rare that he even shows up on the scoresheet at all — he logged just 15 points in 82 games last season.
But his scoring ability (or lack thereof) isn’t the reason the Philadelphia Flyers opted to sign him to a one-year, $1.1 million contract. They signed him to show their young players what it takes to succeed in the NHL.
Staal has seen just about everything in his 16-year NHL career. He's been to the Stanley Cup Final twice, including this past season as a member of the Florida Panthers, and he's appeared in 1,101 NHL games. He’s as qualified as anyone to take on mentorship responsibilities in lieu of the Flyers’ ongoing youth movement.
The 36-year-old knows what his role is with the Flyers, and he’s prepared to hit the ground running as the most senior player on the roster.
“Just to bring what I do each day and be an example for the guys in how to approach the day-to-day life of being in the NHL. They have a lot of guys there that have a lot of experience already. Just go in and compete," said Staal.
"I think the biggest thing for any veteran guy that has played for a long time is coming to the rink and putting your work in and competing 100% on the ice every day at practice, every game, and just showing that example every day and enjoying what you’re doing."
Staal's veteran leadership will be key for this Flyers team. With Ivan Provorov, Justin Braun, and (likely) Tony DeAngelo out of the fold, Travis Sanheim and Rasmus Ristolainen are the Flyers' only other defensemen with over 300 games of NHL experience under their belt.
The 2023-24 squad's blue line will be very young, and Staal's insight will be invaluable as players like Cam York, Egor Zamula, and Ronnie Attard look to take on larger roles as NHLers.
It will also come in handy as the youngsters get accustomed to playing for head coach John Tortorella, who, for better or worse, is a bit of a tough cookie.
Staal spent five seasons playing for Tortorella during their time together with the New York Rangers. He played the best hockey of his career under Torts, and he's hoping his experience with the outspoken bench boss will help prepare younger players for life in the NHL.
"It's been a while since he's coached me. It feels like forever ago, but we've had a good relationship. We've kept in touch a little bit over the years," said Staal. "I'm a different player than I was when he was coaching me, and I'm sure he's a different coach, but I have a lot of respect for him and how he coaches and the accountability he has for the guys and how he wants the game to be played.
"Just being a little bit of an extension of that in the room and the expectations that he has for the team and how the game should be played, (we) have a lot of parallels there. If I can be an extension of that and help out the younger guys and just going about it day to day, I'm sure I'll be able to do that."
As important as Staal's expertise will be to the young players, he likely won't be counted on to play an exorbitant amount of minutes. He turns 37 in January and is coming off a long, 21-game run to the Stanley Cup Final. He will see plenty of time on the penalty kill, but don't be surprised if Staal ends up relinquishing a considerable amount of 5-on-5 ice time to the young bucks.
"I don't expect a role or really have myself penciled in anywhere. I'm gonna go to camp, practice hard, work hard, and then see where it goes. And then just compete," he said.
"I'm just going in with an open mind and a nice, positive attitude and just gonna go out and have some fun and compete with these guys."