- Jordan Staal is entering the last season of his four-year contract in Carolina
- The Conn Smythe winner turns 38 on Sept. 10 and has not talked to the club about 2027-28
- Read below for Eric Tulsky’s full comments on his captain’s future
Jordan Staal’s contract runs out after this season, and the Hurricanes are in no rush to decide what happens next.
General manager Eric Tulsky was asked about the captain’s future in NHL.com’s season preview of the club, and he did not dance around it.
“Jordan is an essential part of the fabric of our team, and I anticipate that we will be trying to keep him here for as long as he wants to play. We have not yet really talked about what lies beyond this year, but we will get to that. I will reach out to him and his agent at some point and see how they want to handle it.”
The money is straightforward. Staal signed a four-year, $11.6 million deal in 2023 that carries a $2.9 million cap hit, and 2026-27 is the last year on it. He turns 38 on Sept. 10.
How long he wants to keep going is the part nobody has an answer to yet. We pointed out over the weekend that the 17-year gap between his two Stanley Cups is the longest any player has ever waited:
He won the first one in Pittsburgh in 2009 as a 20-year-old. The second came in June, when he took the Conn Smythe at 37 years, 277 days old, the oldest winner the award has ever had, after scoring six goals in the Final against Vegas.
Take a look at the league’s tribute to that run:
Staal handled the loyalty question himself back in July, when he said he believes in Raleigh and never went hunting for an exit across 14 seasons with the franchise.
Thunder Bay got him and the trophy over the weekend, and the NHLPA posted the photo set on Monday:
Contract talk on the captain sits behind other business in Raleigh. Alexander Nikishin is still unsigned, Seth Jarvis needs four to six months to come back from shoulder surgery, and Brandon Bussi and Pyotr Kochetkov inherit a net that Frederik Andersen vacated for Edmonton on July 1.
Carolina raises the banner Sept. 29 against Florida, and Staal will have the C on his sweater for it.
