Eric Staal Trade Tree: Carolina Hurricanes to New York Rangers – The Hockey Writers – Carolina Hurricanes

Eric Staal was the face of the Carolina Hurricanes for a long time. He was synonymous with the organization. However, as Geoffrey Chaucer said, all good things must come to an end. His trade out of Carolina a decade ago is now just history. It’s a footnote to a sad ending of one of perhaps the most talented Hurricanes ever. Yet, his exit helped change the course of the organization. So, how did the Staal trade change history?

Dominant Junior

Before we begin with his NHL career, we turn our attention to a young family in Thunder Bay, Ontario. The oldest of the Staal brothers, Eric grew up living and breathing hockey. However, his immense talent was noted almost immediately. As a 15-year-old in AAA hockey with the Thunder Bay Kings back in 1999-00, he played in 59 games. He had 48 goals and 52 assists for 100 points. He was just better than the kids in his age range.

From there, Staal was drafted into the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) by the Peterborough Petes with the 13th overall selection in 2000. He then proceeded to show off what people thought he could be. In his first OHL season, he played 63 games, scoring 19 goals and 30 assists for 49 points. Decent, but not the signs of what we all know he became. A rookie season in the OHL left a few underwhelmed. He was still packed with talent, but perhaps not the game-changer some thought he might become.

That changed in his age-17 season. In 56 games, Staal scored 23 goals and 39 assists for 62 points, getting him above the point-per-game mark, but that’s not what showed him off. He enjoyed a great World Junior Championship, helping Canada claim a silver medal with two goals and five assists in eight games. It was reassurance that he could compete at the highest level within his age bracket. When he returned to the Petes, he had 10 playoff points in just six games, further cementing his draft stock.

When it came to his draft year, Staal exploded. In 66 games, he had 39 goals and 59 assists for 98 points. That immediately made him a lock to be among the top picks in the upcoming NHL Entry Draft. Sure enough, the Pittsburgh Penguins traded up to draft Marc-Andre Fleury first overall, and with the second overall pick, Staal was the first skater selected as he was drafted by the Hurricanes.

Carolina Tenure

Something people forget is that Staal’s NHL debut season was actually before the lockout. In 81 games in 2003-04, as an 18-year-old straight out of the OHL, he scored just 11 goals and 20 assists for 30 points. A fine total, but not enough to break the lofty expectations placed upon him. He looked like he needed a little more time to grow into his body. What he really needed was for the NHL to go on hold for the dumbest of reasons so he could go to the American Hockey League (AHL) for a season to continue to develop.

Staal benefited a lot from the season lost to the lockout. He posted 26 goals and 51 assists for a point-a-game 77 points in the AHL. He looked confident with the Lowell Lock Monsters. He continued with 10 points in 11 playoff games, continuing to develop his reputation as a big-game performer. But questions lingered. Could he be the explosive talent the Hurricanes needed him to be?

Staal’s Lightning in a Bottle

The 2005-06 season was hands down the best of Staal’s career. It’s the best any Hurricane has ever enjoyed. In 82 games, he posted 45 goals and 55 assists for 100 points, becoming the spearhead of the Hurricanes team that took the league by storm coming out of the lockout. As the league transitioned from toughness and size to speed and skill, players like Staal, who could offer a bit of both, became exceptional. Staal, more than most, exploited it. That unique speed from someone who stood 6-foot-4 made him hard to stop, and the Hurricanes rallied around him.

In the playoffs, Staal did more of the same. Scoring vital goals, including one with just three seconds left in regulation in Game 2 of the second round against the New Jersey Devils to send the game to overtime, helped the Hurricanes collect the first Stanley Cup in franchise history. He led the way with nine goals and 19 assists for 28 points. He had a genuine Conn Smythe candidacy in this playoff run. His linemate, Cory Stillman, and Staal himself were the only two Hurricanes to pass the 20-point plateau in the playoffs until Jackson Blake did it in 2026. Blake was a two-year-old when this season started.

Team Inconsistencies

In the seasons following the Hurricanes’ ultimate “flash in the pan” moment, Staal continued to produce. However, it wasn’t at the same clip as the year the Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup. In 81 games in 2006-07, he recorded 70 points, including 30 goals, but it just wasn’t enough as the Hurricanes missed the playoffs and were unable to mount any defense for their crown. Staal again was the spearhead for Carolina, but there just wasn’t enough around him. Many of the old veterans the Hurricanes picked up in 2005-06 had departed for new cities and new contracts. He did go to play for Team Canada at the World Championship, picking up gold, so it was another successful season for him in terms of winning.

In 2007-08, Staal posted another point-per-game season, going for 82 points in 82 games, including 38 goals. It was his first season wearing an “A” on his jersey, but the positives end there. The problem was that, again, there wasn’t a lot around him. He was trying to drag the team to the playoffs without much help. He alone almost made the Hurricanes too good to tank, while the rest of the roster was not good enough to compete at the roster level.

2008 High Leads to Two Successful Seasons

In 2008-09, we got to see the last of Eric Staal in the playoffs with Carolina, at least. It feels weird that a player as synonymous with Hurricanes postseason success as Staal has only made the dance twice, yet here we are. He was again the beacon of warning for the Hurricanes, scoring 40 goals and 75 points as they returned to the playoffs. The benefit he got this time is that goaltender Cam Ward also got sick of the losing, and the two of them decided they wanted a deep run like in 2005-06.

Staal specifically enjoyed 10 goals and five assists for 15 points in 18 playoff games, including the decisive series winner against the New Jersey Devils in Game 7 in the famous “Shock at the Rock”. He continued to try to drag the team to places the roster frankly had no right to be in. There was not enough talent around Staal to be a serious contender, and the Hurricanes were slaughtered in the conference final by Eric’s brother Jordan and the Pittsburgh Penguins in four games.

While 2009-10 wasn’t a great NHL season for the Hurricanes as they again missed the playoffs, Staal had 29 goals and 41 assists for 70 points in 70 games. He was doing his part. It’s worth noting because this was the first season Staal had been awarded the Hurricanes’ captaincy, taking over from Rod Brind’Amour. His performance earned him a place on the Team Canada roster for the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, where Staal scored a goal and five assists for six points in seven games as Canada captured gold, making Staal a member of the Triple Gold club.

Playoff Drought

Over the next five seasons, it was more of the same. The Hurricanes were mired in mediocrity. They didn’t have the assets to be a genuine contender, and they had too much talent to be a bottom-feeder. Staal continued to do his part, leading the team in vain in production, but it didn’t save him from complaints. He shouldered part of the blame as captain, despite doing everything he could to win games singlehandedly.

Some have wondered what Staal could have been had the shackles of a bad team not plagued the bulk of his career, but we’ll never know. He missed out on the Canadian Olympic team that went to Sochi, Russia in 2014, and that started to spell the beginning of the end of the relationship between the Hurricanes and Staal. It began to feel like change was needed for all involved.

So, we head into the 2015-16 season, and the Hurricanes are not where they want to be. Staal only had 33 points in 63 games. Again, the Canes were on the outside of the playoff picture looking in, and their captain was a pending unrestricted free agent. They began taking calls, and on Feb. 28, Staal was traded. He finished with 322 goals and 453 assists for 775 points in 909 games across 12 seasons in Raleigh. He was the team leader in essentially everything post-relocation. Some of those records have fallen to Sebastian Aho since his departure, or may fall in the near future, but they outline how exceptional he truly was despite a lacklustre supporting cast.

The Trade

Staal was dealt to the New York Rangers for Finnish forward prospect Aleksi Saarela, a 2016 second-round pick, and a 2017 second-round pick. Once he got to New York, he was reunited with the only brother he hadn’t played with up to that point in his career, Marc Staal. However, his struggles continued. In his 28 regular-season games as a Ranger, he tallied just three goals and three assists for six points.

That said, the Rangers did not pick up Staal for his regular-season production. The Rangers were pushing for the Stanley Cup, only two seasons after a bitter loss in the Stanley Cup Final. They wanted Staal to be what he had been in those big moments, and help the Rangers get back to that point. In five playoff games, Staal failed to tally a point. He did not re-sign with the Rangers and departed the Big Apple through free agency.

Life After New York

From there, Staal signed as a free agent with the Minnesota Wild. He enjoyed a slight renaissance in the Twin Cities. His first season, 2016-17, saw him score 28 goals and 37 assists for 65 points in 82 games. Not the dominant pace he used to have, but by this time, he was a veteran on the back nine of his career. His second season was another flash of brilliance, where he hit the 42-goal mark to go with his 34 assists for 76 points.

Unfortunately, that 2017-18 season was the last time we saw Staal at the peak of his powers. He followed that up with 22 goals and 30 assists for 52 points in 82 games, and then the COVID-truncated 2019-20 season saw him put up 19 goals and 28 assists for 47 points in 66 games. From there, he was traded to the Buffalo Sabres. Three goals and seven assists in 37 games underlined that he wasn’t the dominant force he used to be anymore.

He was flipped at the 2021 NHL Trade Deadline to the Montreal Canadiens and enjoyed a second run to the Stanley Cup Final, but ultimately came up short. Staal then took a season away from the NHL so he could captain Team Canada at the 2022 Olympics that the NHL did not attend. He led a team of young Canadian kids and Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) players, but was unable to replicate the 2010 feat of winning gold.

In 2022-23, Staal returned to the NHL for one last go with the Florida Panthers. Again, he helped the Panthers get to the Stanley Cup Final, but they were bested. After that, he signed a one-day contract with the Hurricanes and announced his retirement from hockey. Today, his No. 12 hangs from the rafters above the ice inside the Lenovo Center. So, why did this trade help the Hurricanes so much?

Carolina’s Branch

Well, let’s start with the 2017 second. That was used to select defenseman Luke Martin. He never made it close to the NHL. He wasn’t traded either, making it a quick branch to dissect. Martin is currently under contract with Orebro in Sweden. He bounced around the AHL and ECHL for a few seasons before making his way to Europe, but his rights are no longer held by the Canes, and he is unlikely to make an NHL return currently.

Saarela was a funny story. He got into a single playoff game with the Hurricanes in 2018-19, but never made a regular-season appearance. He requested a trade away from the Charlotte Checkers to seek an NHL opportunity. So, the Hurricanes traded him and defenseman Calvin de Haan to the Chicago Blackhawks for Gustav Forsling and Anton Forsberg. Saarela was later traded to Florida to play for their new AHL affiliate… the Charlotte Checkers. Saarela is now back in Finland, but the irony must be appreciated.

As for Forsling and Forsberg, this doesn’t look great. Everyone now knows how good Forsling was, but he hadn’t shown it at this point. He was waived because the Hurricanes believed their defense was good enough without him. He has since won two Stanley Cups, but that was a waiver claim, not a trade. He’s been one of the best waiver claims ever, but it still doesn’t affect the trade tree.

Forsberg played a few games for Carolina. Famously, both Hurricanes goalies got hurt in a game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, requiring the Hurricanes to win with a Zamboni driver in goal. Everyone remembers the game, but the Hurricanes had to summon both AHL netminders after that, and Forsberg was one of them. He got a couple of wins to help the Hurricanes before the season was halted due to the pandemic. He departed through free agency, so this branch ends.

The 2016 Second-Round Pick

There’s one pick we haven’t mentioned: the 2016 second-rounder. Well, it was used to draft Artur Kayumov. Some of you might recognize that he wasn’t drafted by Carolina, but by Chicago. Well, you’re right. The pick was traded alongside a 2017 third-round pick for two forwards from Chicago. Carolina was looking to add a little more punch to their forward core.

The older veteran was Bryan Bickell. A great story, he was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, an incredibly serious illness. He spent a lot of time away from hockey getting treated and setting up a charity to raise awareness for those with MS. A multiple-time champion with the Blackhawks, and just a wonderful story about a player turning an illness into a chance to help others. He retired after his Carolina tenure due to his illness.

The other forward the Hurricanes got was more impactful on the ice than Bickell was. It was a young Teuvo Teravainen. For eight years, he was part of the fabric of the Hurricanes. His 76-point outburst in 2018-19, his career high by far, was a monumental reason for the Hurricanes getting back into the playoffs. He was everything for Carolina that they didn’t have when Staal was around. That next man supporting cast was a role Teravainen filled spectacularly, while also providing excellent defensive coverage.

In 555 games in Carolina, Teravainen scored 138 goals and 277 assists for 415 points, the sixth highest by any Hurricane post-relocation. John Forslund used to call him and Aho the cherubs because they seemed to share a brain. They were very close when Aho was breaking into the league, and there is no denying Teravainen made the transition of the current Hurricanes star easier than it could have been.

Teravainen was one of the key pieces of the team to depart in the free-agent purge of 2024, when the Hurricanes were dealing with significant salary cap constraints. He went back to Chicago, where he currently plays. However, leaving through free agency means this branch, and this trade tree, comes to a conclusion.

Overall Impact In Raleigh

So, what has this trade changed overall? Well, it helped the Hurricanes begin to alter the fabric of the franchise. With Staal, Carolina made deep runs when they made the playoffs, but making the playoffs was harder. When the Hurricanes picked up Teravainen, he became a key part of the roster that began to make the playoffs consistently. In many ways, Teravainen’s contributions as a core piece helped put some of the pieces in place off the ice that went on to win the 2026 Stanley Cup.

This isn’t to belittle Staal’s contributions. He suffered from playing under more difficult circumstances, with a different owner who wasn’t always willing to spend, different general managers who didn’t do a great job filling out the roster around him, and poor coaching in the latter part of his tenure in Raleigh. That doesn’t change the greatness he showed when the lights were brightest.

I’d argue that Staal is why the Hurricanes were able to endure the 10 years of struggle. If he hadn’t led the Hurricanes to the 2006 Stanley Cup, how much would change? No team that has won the Stanley Cup has been relocated in the expansion era. The last team that won the Cup to move was the original Ottawa Senators when they became the St. Louis Eagles in 1934. How much easier is it to uproot the franchise if they don’t hold the only championship among any professional team in the state? Now, it’s not entirely because of Staal, but it is part of the equation.

Ultimately, it’s a tree telling a sombre story. The struggles of stability around Staal created a team stuck in the worst position in North American sports: mediocrity. When they did pull the plug on his tenure in Raleigh and transitioned to a new age with Teravainen, he departed before he was able to taste the championship with Carolina. 10 years later, and the Hurricanes have nothing tangible left from one of the greatest Canes ever, an appropriate ending for Staal’s trade tree.