On February 28th, the New York Rangers acquired center Eric Staal from the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for a pair of 2nd round picks, and Finnish prospect Aleksi Saarela. Eric, brother of current Rangers player Marc Staal, waived his no-trade clause to facilitate the deal.
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| Staal will be taking his talents to the Big Apple |
Staal had spent his entire career, 12 seasons, with the Hurricanes, and is eligible for free agency after the 2015-2016 season. He is in the final season of a seven year, $55.75 million deal he signed with Carolina in 2008. Rangers GM Jeff Gorton announced that Carolina retained some of Staal's salary for the current season, so New York has enough financial flexibility to add "a small salary player," in addition to Staal, if they chose to.
Shortly after the deal was announced, Gorton spoke to reporters and explained the thought process behind acquiring Eric Staal. He said "We felt like he was one of the best, if not the best, player available on the market to give us what we're looking for in our top nine."
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| Eric (left) and Marc (right) at the NHL Skills Challenge in 2011 |
Eric will be leaving one Staal brother, Jordan, and joining another, Marc, who has been a defense man on the Rangers since 2007.
Gorton also spoke of the idea of having Eric and Marc play on the same team together. He said "I think it'll help. He probably knows a lot of players on our team because of Marc. But at the end of the day, it wasn't really that I or anybody here felt like if we bring him here he's going to be more comfortable because of what Marc's doing. It's all about Eric."
Eric Staal has 10 goals and 23 assists in 63 games this season, and has been named an All-Star four times in his career. He is the Hurricanes career leader in almost every category, including 909 games played, 332 goals and 775 points.
As for the prospect that Carolina is receiving, Saarela was the Rangers' third round pick from the 2015 NHL Draft. The 19 year old has played for Assat Pori of the Finnish elite league, leading the team with 18 goals and has a total of 31 points in 46 games.
It's been five seasons since Staal last put up his 30+ goal year, so it's fair to say that he is on the decline of his career at the age of 31. However, the Rangers did very well in this deal because they did not forfeit much to acquire him. Also, as said before, he is a free agent at the end of this current season, and according to reports, the Rangers are not looking to bring him back on a new contract.
In addition to the Staal deal, the team announced a few hours later that it had also acquired forward Chris Brown from the Washington Capitals in exchange for fellow forward Ryan Bourque.
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| Ryan will be reunited with his brother, Chris Bourque, on the Bears |
Brown, 25, has had a few stints in the NHL since being drafted as a 2nd rounder in 2012-2013. This season, he has stuck with the Hershey Bears of the AHL, putting up 3 goals and 6 assists in 20 games.
Bourque, 25, has been with the Rangers since 2011, but never truly panned out. He played one game for the NHL squad this season, but has primarily been with the Hartford Wolf Pack of the AHL. In that league, he has put up 10 goals and 14 assists in 55 games.
The Rangers are currently 2nd in the Eastern Conference behind the Washington Capitals. The NHL trade deadline is rapidly approaching, as it is February 29th at 3 pm ET.
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