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Carolina Hurricanes: An Eric Staal Trade Could Decide the Future of Jordan Staal

By Brett Finger

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With the decision on Eric Staal‘s future with the Carolina Hurricanes quickly approaching, the future of Jordan Staal also needs to be considered.

A pending 2016 unrestricted free agent and long-time corner stone of the Carolina Hurricanes, Eric Staal finds himself in a situation that he hasn’t been in at any point in his 12-season NHL career.

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Staal’s future is hanging in the balance, and that is a secret to no one. Up to this points, however; there has been very little talk about the situation from Ron Francis and the Hurricanes or Eric Staal and his agent Rick Curran. That stayed the same this week, and it will continue to be that way, according to TSN’s Bob McKenzie.

“Carolina general manager Ron Francis and Staal’s agent Rick Curran did talk on the phone on Tuesday, but basically deferred ‎all matters relating to Staal’s future to the new year,” McKenzie wrote on Wednesday. “Neither Francis ‎nor Curran wanted to comment publicly, other than to indicate no doors have been opened or closed on either side and there’s no timetable beyond talking again sometime in the new year.”

This has been the case for quite some time. Both sides are waiting for things to play out in the season and they want to see what’s best for the future.

Right now, I think many would debate that moving Eric Staal is the way to go. One team out there will go all out for a player of his caliber. He is still a first line center without a shadow of a doubt, no matter what any pessimists may think.

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Although, from a physical standpoint, he isn’t what he used to be, his talent is still there. One of these teams reportedly interested, whether it’s the Nashville Predators or the Montreal Canadiens or someone else, will dish out a lot to get him. He will likely be the biggest named player on the trading block as we get closer and closer to February 29’s deadline.

McKenzie also noted that Eric Staal will not be getting raise if he does resign in Carolina, which is not a surprise given his $8.25 million cap hit. In fact, he may be getting less than his brother if he re-ups with the club.

Jordan Staal has 7.5 years to go with annual cap hit and salary of $6 million. So if Eric signs, it could be under his brother’s very lofty cap hit.

One thing that also has to be considered, which McKenzie also touched on, is that if one Staal goes, the other might too.

It was very public that Jordan Staal’s interest in coming to the Hurricanes was based almost solely around Eric Staal being with the club. Carolina’s alternate captain has also been very open about how tough this season has been for him.

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If Eric is moved out, it is very possible that Jordan wouldn’t want to stick around for the rest of this rebuild. That’s not saying that the two would have to be packaged together, as a matter of fact, there are no teams that could take on both of their cap hits without exceeding the NHL’s salary cap ceiling. That is unless the team would be sending a significant contract back Carolina’s way or the Hurricanes retain salary. It is also worth noting that both players have no trade clauses.

This ultimately means that, if Eric Staal is traded by the deadline, Jordan Staal could very well be finding himself a new home as well. This would make the team much worse in the present, but they’d be getting rid of a massive number of cap and more importantly salary and they’d get a lot of pieces for the future.

The Eric Staal saga is far from over, but things will start to heat up in the coming weeks and months. With his future in question, the future of Jordan Staal is just as much at stake.

[All cap numbers and salary details courtesy of GeneralFanager.com]

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