Carolina Hurricanes’ Jordan Staal Turning into the Player He was Expected to Be
Carolina Hurricanes forward Jordan Staal is not only starting to meet the lofty expectations placed on him by the fan base, he is exceeding them.
The up and down tenure for forward Jordan Staal since he was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes in 2012 has been well documented.
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His 10-year, $6 million contract only added more pressure on the player and increased the expectations from those following the organization, and leading into the 2015-2016 season, the popular opinion was that Staal was not hitting the mark.
Since the moment he stepped on the ice as a Hurricanes, Jordan Staal has been the work horse that the club needed. He has played against opponents’ top players, logged the most penalty kill minutes among forwards, and his offense has started to come around in a big way.
Staal has consistently put up .5 points per game since his arrival. His 116 points in 219 games is good for .53 points per game in a Carolina Hurricanes uniform.
While those numbers are respectable for a vast majority of NHL players, the high expectations from the Canes fan base made those numbers look less impressive, especially given his big hype and his big salary.
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Jordan Staal just isn’t a big point producer. At his best, he is a shutdown 2nd line center with the ability to post upwards of 50-55 points in a season. Up to this point, he hasn’t been able to deliver in the points department, but he delivered in all other areas, areas which tend to get overlooked.
Carolina Hurricanes
This season, he has averaged 1:40 of penalty kill time this season, which, despite ranking outside of the top-50 centers in that category, is notable given Carolina’s near league-best discipline. Staal also ranks 5th amongst centers with 400+ faceoffs in faceoff percentage at 57.7%.
Staal’s aforementioned uptick in production has been big for this team. He has three consecutive 2-point games, logging 1 goal and 1 assist in games against the Vancouver Canucks and the Columbus Blue Jackets (twice) over the past week. Even before the numbers started coming around for Staal as of late, he was showing signs of something big. He hit posts and crossbars for several games leading into the Hurricanes’ recent road trip.
The 27-year-old has started to tap back into his north-south game and it has paid dividends both for him and for his team. The Canes are just 3 points shy of a playoff spot in the East as of Sunday, and they wouldn’t be if it wasn’t for Jordan Staal’s high level of play as of late.
One has to wonder if the trade rumors surrounding his brother have played a role in his recent play. The main reason he wanted to come to Raleigh was to play with Eric Staal, and Eric’s name has been swirling around in trade rumors a lot in recent months. If this team proves to be a good team now and going into next season, there will be very little reason for the club to not sign the oldest Staal brother to an extension, thus throwing away all doubt in regards to his future.
One also has to assume that Eric Staal’s fate will be the same as Jordan Staal. If Eric gets moved, Jordan may be packing his bags as well.
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Whether that is the case or not, we are hoping not to find out. Right now, the Carolina Hurricanes are setting their sights on the playoffs and not a long offseason, which is a nice change of pace compared to recent years, and the play of Jordan Staal as of late has been the difference.