The latest news and speculation on the contract statuses of Carolina Hurricanes captain Eric Staal & New York Islanders winger Brock Nelson.
Eric Staal not close to a new deal with the Hurricanes.
Carolina Hurricanes are no closer to re-sign captain Eric Staal.
SPORTSNET: In an interview with Sportsnet The Fan 960, Elliotte Friedman reported the Carolina Hurricanes and captain Eric Staal aren’t close to an agreement on a new contract. Staal, 30, is eligible next summer for unrestricted free agency. Friedman believes the center, whose stats have declined recently, could benefit from a change of scenery. However, he acknowledged Staal has “a great setup there”. He loves living and playing in Carolina and the club wants to re-sign him. Staal also has a full no-movement clause.
ESPN.COM: Pierre LeBrun reports Staal’s agent, Rick Curran and Hurricanes GM Ron Francis both they’ve had a great, open dialogue, adding there’s no time frame to getting a deal done. LeBrun indicates the difference between Staal and Tampa Bay Lightning center Steven Stamkos and Los Angeles Kings pivot Anze Kopitar (who are also eligible next summer for UFA status) is the latter two are playing for clubs expected to be playoff contenders, whereas the Hurricanes aren’t in that position. Despite Staal’s no-movement clause, LeBrun wonders if the Hurricanes consider moving their captain if he’s still unsigned by the Feb. 29 trade deadline.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: It’s obvious the Hurricanes won’t be shopping Staal if he’s unsigned when the season begins. Both sides will likely let the season play out and see where they are leading up to the deadline. Staal, whose annual cap hit is $8.25 million and will earn $9.5 million this season in actual salary, obviously won’t be getting a raise over his current contract. He’ll have to accept lesser term and dollars. It’s how much the Hurricanes want him to accept that will be the determining factor. Yes, Staal’s production might improve if he moved on to a better club, but if he’s happy living and working in Carolina, and if he and Francis can reach an agreement on a deal, he could forsake free agency.
Clock ticking on Brock Nelson
NEWSDAY: Arthur Staple reports agent Ron Salcer, who represents New York Islanders restricted free agent winger Brock Nelson, hasn’t heard from management in six weeks. The Islanders have reportedly offered a two-year deal, which Salcer claims isn’t fair, saying the first year is worth half of what comparable players are earning, while the second is worth a third. Salcer cited Minnesota Wild’s Mikael Granlund (two years, $6 million), Montreal Canadiens’ winger Alex Galchenyuk (two years, $5.6 million), Ottawa Senators center Mika Zibanejad (two years, $5.25 million) and Carolina Hurricanes forward Elias Lindholm (two-year, $5.4 million). The Islanders policy is players who aren’t re-signed when training camp opens are out for the entire season.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The deadline for Nelson to re-sign is September 16. As he’s a restricted free agent without arbitration rights (he’s coming off an entry-level contract), he and his agent have no leverage. They can’t even threaten a holdout. The Isles are betting Nelson will blink first. We’ll find out for certain by the end of tomorrow.
Staal will likely end up on another team by the end of the year. It doesn’t make sense for the canes to keep him, especially if they can get anything for him (and I’m guessing teams would love to have Staal for a cup run). Carolina is in a rebuild that’s lasted too long, they need to go in a different direction if they want to change their fortunes and getting rid of Staal and Ward is the start.
As for Nelson, the islanders are taking a hard nosed approach at this saying if he’s not signed by the beginning of the season, he won’t play…I hope that comes back to bite them in the butt. Nelson is a good young player and starting a career like this isn’t a great way to being the player/team relationship. I hope another team steps in and makes a deal for him…and I hope that team is the Flames. Either way, I’m willing to bet he’s traded before the season starts.
I could see Staal being traded at the deadline, and still re-signing with Carolina in the off-season. Like Vermette. I do not think any real contending team other than possibly Anaheim can afford a $6-7 million hit next year anyway.
Canes should trade Staal sooner than later. Sooner means he will have enough time to get accustomed to his new team, city and franchise. He is more likely to resign with a team he knows versus one he will know as a rental for 13 regular season games + playoffs. Familiarity will go a long way to his new team getting him to sign before he hits the open market.
4th Hanson… I completely agree. Staal should be traded now. First, teams now can make moves to accommodate his salary. Also, what if by chance the Hurricanes had a better than expected season and were say within 5 points of a playoff spot at the deadline. Do you keep Staal and push for the playoffs or trade him and risk your season collapsing. There is no upside to going into a season with a guy who is not committed to your team long term.
Traded where? Any team regarded as a contender is already close to or at the cap and to make room for his $8 mil cap hit they’d have to clear out a hefty salary. Assuming a team was interested in trying to do that, you can bet the contract they’d try and dump is one they have that is considered “toxic.” Even if they were prepared to trade a non-toxic contract – where do THEY send that player? Buyouts are no longer an option, I doubt Stall would waive his NM clause to go to a rebuilding team – to what end? – nor would any player making that kind of coin with another team (there are very few who make that kind of money and who don’t have NT/NM clauses. It just can’t be done at this stage of the season.
Agreed George.
That’s why I believed the Canes should have traded Staal at or around the draft, before free agency when teams had cap space. It would be allot tougher to move him now, better than losing him for nothing.
Everyone calling for the Canes to trade Staal makes a good point but forgets one crucial aspect. Staal has a complete no trade clause, loves it in Carolina and just convinced his brother to sign an extension until 2023 (who also has a NTC).
Staal won’t be traded, not because the Canes don’t want to trade him but because he won’t want to be traded. I can see him re-signing for significantly less to stay in Raleigh.
I wanna see him take the home town discount – because I do not believe the Canes will be willing to pay him the money he will get on the open market.
He better like Raleigh a whole lot, especially when the franchise is not doing well overall.
Does ‘home town discount’ exist anymore? I can’t recall I have seen that in many many years. Right after signing, Toewes alluded to that they left money on the table when they signed $10.5M….REALLY?!?! That’s one heck of a ‘discount’. How big was it….$200k? Can’t remember which of Saad/O’Reilly said it, as the signings were fairly close. I think it was O’Reilly. Anyway, it was commented by the player that money was left on the table. At $6M (Saad) $7.5M (O’Reilly)…REALLY? So how much of a ‘home discount’ will Staal give them? $7.5-8M a year? 🙂 Wow, cheap.
Agreed – that’s why I do not believe Staal will be in Carolina next season. he is not going to give the Canes a HTD – this will be his last big contract, he’s over 30. players are not very charitable these days. Would you be?
It seems players give agents carte blanche nowadays and agents do not feel any responsibility to take any pay cut on their end. The days where communication encompassing loyalty existed among players and GMs are pretty much gone. It’s a pure money driven business for the most part.
I don’t know why you guys think Staal is going to accept a trade at the deadline to a contending team only to move again in the next offseason. He obviously likes Carolina so he may play out the season there – it’s his choice entirely – and then take a discount to re-up.
Next time the NHL and NHLPA negotiate a new CBA, they need to add a rule that a player may not have any type of no movement clause (“NMC”) in the final year of his contract.
It makes no sense that a team can’t trade a player in the final year of his contract when the player will not be re-signing, yet the team can’t trade him because of an NMC.
I believe Staal should have been dealt at the draft or early in the free agency period. I do not know why he would want to stay, if the team is not going to be a contender for a few seasons. There are also questions being raised about the franchise in general should may impact his final decision.