The Carolina Hurricanes have signed their captain to what could very well be the last contract he’ll sign in his NHL career. Late last night, the Hurricanes announced they’ve signed captain Jordan Staal to a one-year, $10MM extension.
For those worried about the eye-popping salaries being handed out this summer due to the salary cap’s rising Upper Limit, it isn’t a flat $10MM for Staal. He’ll earn a base salary of $900K, a signing bonus of $4MM, and $5.1MM in performance bonuses.
The performance bonus qualifications haven’t been disclosed yet.
Regardless, it was likely a relatively easy decision for the Hurricanes to keep their captain around for another season. Staal will be 39 years old when his new extension concludes, having played in his 22nd NHL season, with 16 of those seasons in Carolina.
Last spring, Staal captained the Hurricanes to win the Stanley Cup, securing the second championship of his career. He also received the Conn Smythe Trophy as the postseason MVP following an impressive performance in the Stanley Cup Final.
Despite the Hurricanes’ 12-1-0 record, his playoff performance was relatively quiet through the first three rounds. Through the Eastern Conference Final, Staal had registered only two goals and five points with a +4 rating, delivering 64 hits while winning 52.1% of his faceoffs.
Still, in the Stanley Cup Final against the Vegas Golden Knights, Staal found his youth again, scoring six goals and seven points in six games with a +2 rating, throwing 22 hits and winning an impressive 68.0% of his faceoffs. He became the oldest player to win the Conn Smythe Trophy, beating Tim Thomas by 216 days.
Furthermore, Staal has remained remarkably consistent for the Hurricanes as he enters the twilight years of his career. Since the 2021-22 season, Staal has averaged 15 goals and 34 points in 78 games with a +5 rating.
Additionally, he’s averaged 163 hits per season and a 56.2% success rate in the faceoff dot while managing an ATOI of nearly 16 minutes. Impressively, even while playing with a physical edge, Staal has missed only 21 regular-season contests in the last five years.
Meanwhile, his advanced metrics paint a similar picture. Many players in Carolina benefit from Rod Brind’Amour’s strategies, but Staal has consistently been a strong possession player throughout his career.
He regularly maintains an on-ice SV% in the high 80s to low 90s at even strength, even though he starts most of his shifts in the defensive zone.
Although Carolina still has work to do in keeping much of their defensive corps intact through the 2026-27 season, Jordan Martinook is the only pending free agent up front now that Staal has signed. Assuming everyone can remain healthy, the Hurricanes should again challenge for the Stanley Cup next spring.
Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images.