Speculation: Will Eric Staal be a Hurricane next season?

[Boom Boom Apathy]

What say ye? Simple poll, do you think Staal will be a Hurricane next year?

EDIT: clarification. This is NOT what you HOPE will happen, but what you predict WILL happen.

Click to read more...

 

[VAcaniac]

My gut tells me he'll be back. I hope I'm wrong.

 

[Wolfpuck]

Leaning towards yes

I'm thinking he'll be traded for a good return before the trade deadline, then re-sign in the summer on a (hopefully) not so horrible contract

 

[Carolinas Identity*]

Yes. Either he will out right resign, or he will leave for a cup run then, come back on 1/7/16

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

It's a tough call for me. Honestly, I think a lot of it depends on how they do this year, but in the end I picked no. Just some subtle signs (that I admit I'm reading way to much into). For example, when Forslund was asked via the AMA, he said "crossroads", but when he was asked the same on Ward he said "Yes, he'll be back".

I honestly think Eric wants to be back as he is settled here, has his brother living nearby, etc..., but don't think Francis will want to pay Eric what I think Eric will ask for. Just a gut feel.

 

[dogbazinho]

I think its totally up to Staal. If he accepts being underpaid I think he stays. If he wants a fair contract (or over) then GTFO.

 

[jeromeo87]

It's a tough call for me. Honestly, I think a lot of it depends on how they do this year, but in the end I picked no. Just some subtle signs (that I admit I'm reading way to much into). For example, when Forslund was asked via the AMA, he said "crossroads", but when he was asked the same on Ward he said "Yes, he'll be back".

I honestly think Eric wants to be back as he is settled here, has his brother living nearby, etc..., but don't think Francis will want to pay Eric what I think Eric will ask for. Just a gut feel.

I don't see how Eric is worth a penny more than Jordan is worth.. Would Eric take $6 mil?

 

[raynman]

I definitely think/believe Eric wants to stay here. Francis wants to build through the draft and probably knows this team isn't ready to be a contender. Trade Eric at the deadline, name Faulk captain, re-sign Eric on July 1 for a reasonable price to be a top 6 LW/C.

 

[RodTheBawd]

I honestly think Eric wants to be back as he is settled here, has his brother living nearby, etc..., but don't think Francis will want to pay Eric what I think Eric will ask for. Just a gut feel.

That's where I'm at. I get the sense Eric just wants to casually play out the last few years of his career in a low stress environment where he's comfortable getting paid $7.5M+ to be a passenger. This season is probably the best we'll ever see of Eric going forward, and it's just not worth it.

 

[Joe McGrath]

McKenzie tweeted the other day he doesn't think Staal gets more than 6-7 mil on the open market. Maybe he takes $6mil to stay. Same amount as Jordan. Would make sense for both sides.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

McKenzie tweeted the other day he doesn't think Staal gets more than 6-7 mil on the open market. Maybe he takes $6mil to stay. Same amount as Jordan. Would make sense for both sides.

For me, it's not just money, it's term. Personally, I don't want to be paying Eric that much money when he's in his mid 30s (he'll be 32 to start next season).

 

[Novacane]

Kopitar just got $10 million to stay in LA. I doubt Eric sniffs less than 7 in FA

 

[jeromeo87]

For me, it's not just money, it's term. Personally, I don't want to be paying Eric that much money when he's in his mid 30s (he'll be 32 to start next season).

I would probably be okay with EStaal getting $6 mil for 3 years, but no more than 3.

 

[Quacktastic]

Kopitar just got $10 million to stay in LA. I doubt Eric sniffs less than 7 in FA

Kopitar is significantly better at stick puck than Eric though, plus he's still in his prime. He's a legit 1C on a perennial cup contender. Eric is on the back 9 of his career, and someone on here's comparison to Lecavalier was frighteningly accurate in my mind. This is why I hope we trade him at the deadline. I'm not opposed to bringing him back in July but would hesitate to offer anything over 7m/3years. Anything over that is too risky for me, and honestly 7m might be too much.

What I described above is the best case scenario in my mind. It's hard to make a prediction right now because of so many factors. This 'playoff push' while fun to watch is probably clouding RF's judgement on whether we should keep Eric or trade him. Hopefully someone will be desperate and overpay for him making this an easy decision. I also believe that he would prefer to come back to Carolina next season, however if someone throws a stupid amount of money at him if he makes it to FA and we don't match he may leave.

edit: since the poll was black and white, I voted YES, he'll be a Hurricane by October 2016.

 

[Novacane]

Kopitar is significantly better at stick puck than Eric though, plus he's still in his prime. He's a legit 1C on a perennial cup contender. Eric is on the back 9 of his career, and someone on here's comparison to Lecavalier was frighteningly accurate in my mind. This is why I hope we trade him at the deadline. I'm not opposed to bringing him back in July but would hesitate to offer anything over 7m/3years. Anything over that is too risky for me, and honestly 7m might be too much.

What I described above is the best case scenario in my mind. It's hard to make a prediction right now because of so many factors. This 'playoff push' while fun to watch is probably clouding RF's judgement on whether we should keep Eric or trade him. Hopefully someone will be desperate and overpay for him making this an easy decision. I also believe that he would prefer to come back to Carolina next season, however if someone throws a stupid amount of money at him if he makes it to FA and we don't match he may leave.

edit: since the poll was black and white, I voted YES, he'll be a Hurricane by October 2016.

In no way am I saying they are the same player. They are only separated by three years and Kopitar's contract takes him until he's 36. But both are still 1Cs and whoever wants one is going to pay out the ass to get one. Especially on the open market.

 

[GoldiFox]

$6 million over 3 years is the absolute max $ and term I would give him. What I think Francis will give him is $7.5 million over 5+ years.

Truthfully I don't think there is a lot of physical/skillset difference between Staal and Kopitar, I think at their best they compare favorably to each other. The main difference (besides a better team and a couple recent Cups) is that Kopitar has 5x the heart and determination. If I were Staal I would cling to that comparison and hope for a jackpot, hopefully from a team who is not the Canes.

 

[Joe McGrath]

$6 million over 3 years is the absolute max $ and term I would give him. What I think Francis will give him is $7.5 million over 5+ years.

Truthfully I don't think there is a lot of physical/skillset difference between Staal and Kopitar, I think at their best they compare favorably to each other. The main difference (besides a better team and a couple recent Cups) is that Kopitar has 5x the heart and determination. If I were Staal I would cling to that comparison and hope for a jackpot, hopefully from a team who is not the Canes.

Everything this guy just said is ********.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Everything this guy just said is ********.

Love that movie.

 

[Sens1Canes2]

I wish I knew what ********** said.

I've said it before but I'm kind of blown away at what some are willing to pay for Staal to return. If he'd take between $4 and $5 million, I'd swallow hard and sign him. But it's best for the culture if he just goes to another team IMO. Give the team to the kids and sign a quality UFA for $6 or $7 million.

 

[Caniac4ever]

Pierre LeBrun had an interesting article about Staal today... a couple of points that stood out to me...

One possibility is that

"the Hurricanes re-sign Staal at a paycut from his current $8.25 million salary cap hit. I think it would have to be really, really reasonable for Carolina to go down this route".

Later on in the article he talks about how good our young defense are doing and points out that Faulk will be the future captain.

It may all just be his gut feeling, but you'd have to think he has a good idea RF isn't going to throw a bunch of money at Staal at this point in his career if he stays at all. I think the lack of negotiations up to this point also alludes to this. IMO, this is exactly what I would prefer... either stay on a serious discount and keep his happy little life as it is or move on.

 

[Blueline Bomber]

Given the way he's played this year, I see no reason to resign him.

But this team rarely does things that make sense.

 

[Quacktastic]

In no way am I saying they are the same player. They are only separated by three years and Kopitar's contract takes him until he's 36. But both are still 1Cs and whoever wants one is going to pay out the ass to get one. Especially on the open market.

Fair enough, I thought Kopi was drafted in 06 or 07 for some reason, not 05. Playing until 36 is a little longer than I'd like to see him signed for, but I imagine the Kings mindset was the same as ours when we first resigned Eric. He's a guy they can't afford to lose so they had to pay the man what he wants. Though if I were an LA fan I don't think I'd be upset with that deal.

I'm not quite sure if Staal is a legit 1C anymore. On our team he's our default guy there but has clearly been regressing in most phases of the game, aside from faceoff %, ever since the lockout season ended. He used to be a sure thing to hit at least 70 points, but has only averaged 58 points the last two seasons and is on pace for less than that this year. The more I think about this, I'm really hoping we draft someone with 1C potential this year, because like you said we'll have to pay out the ass to get one otherwise. However, that'll be difficult to do if we keep rising in the standings.

 

[Ole Gil]

Eric remains the best forward on this team by a fair margin. There isn't really a close 2nd (if we assume that Eric is bolstering verteeg's stats, rather than the other way around)

He leads the team in GF/60. His line is the only GF% > 50. His line is the only line that has a CF% > 50 when the team is leading.

In boring old scoring more than the opponent, he's centering the best line. In fancy town USA advanced stats, he's centering the best line. And like always, he's doing it with high powered wingers in cap casualty Kris Versteeg, and Elias Lindholm going through his junior slump against the other teams top defensive pair every night.

And that highlights the real problem with dealing Eric. There is nobody on deck. I think the Canes are going to start thinking about winning next year, but that math doesn't add up if Eric walks.

 

[Ole Gil]

GF60/GA60 Stats:

Eric Staal 2.39/2.15
Jeff Skinner 2.08/2.46
Jordan Staal 1.32/1.7
Jay McClement 1.27/3.11

 

[Sens1Canes2]

He's 80th in the league in points. Sign him now.