Marc Staal has an opportunity to be an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career after 14 NHL seasons and age 34, but maybe he will decide to stay put.
Staal spoke with Detroit Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman shortly after the season and said there is some interest from both sides.
The Red Wings were pleased with Staal’s performance and his approach following an offseason trade from the New York Rangers that shocked the veteran defenseman. The club has two left-shooting defensemen (Danny DeKeyser, Dennis Cholowski) and Yzerman said they need two more.
They know what they have in Staal, a 6-4, 209-pound stay-at-home defender who provides a dimension with his size and physicality. He was one of only two Red Wings to play in all 56 games (Filip Hronek the other) and coach Jeff Blashill praised his role as a leader on the blue line.
“There’s times during the season or during a game where things can start getting away from you,” Staal said. “I’ve been on teams where maybe it doesn’t go well for you the first 20 (games) and that’s that, you kind of fold up and start to think about the next (season). I was just trying to make sure we stayed consistent and (kept) working hard no matter what the circumstance was. I’ve been around a while, so any hope or positivity I can bring throughout a game I was willing to do that.”
After spending his entire career in New York, Staal quickly warmed up to his new surroundings.
“I had a lot of fun this season,” Staal said. “It was good to have a fresh start. I enjoyed going to the rink every day. Really nothing but positives my whole experience start to finish. Got a good opportunity to play and for the most part I was playing quite a few minutes.”
He added, “It’s a fun D corps to play with, a lot of great guys, not a lot of big, selfish personalities, everyone just wanting to play well and help the team win.”
Clubs can sign players they hold the rights to anytime before free agency opens on July 23, but nothing is likely to transpire with UFAs until after the July 21 Seattle expansion draft. That way teams won’t need to protect or expose those players.
Staal also said he is “kind of anxious” to see what transpires in free agency. Brother Eric, 36, also is a UFA and Staal mused about possibly having a rare opportunity to play with one of his brothers (Jordan plays for Carolina).
“We had 20 games in New York after the (2016) trade deadline; that was fun,” Staal said. “When you have two brothers in the league, it’s always a possibility to try to play with one of them because it’s a pretty unique opportunity.”
Wherever Staal signs, it will be for significantly less than the $5.7 million cap hit he had from his most recent Rangers contract.
“I’m going to keep my options open, but if Steve comes to me in July and it works for both of us, I’m definitely on the table,” Staal said.
More: Red Wings eager for top young defenseman’s NHL debut
The Link LonkMay 25, 2021 at 05:08PM
https://www.mlive.com/redwings/2021/05/marc-staal-could-help-fill-red-wings-need-for-left-shooting-d-men.html
Marc Staal could help fill Red Wings’ need for left-shooting D-men - mlive.com
https://news.google.com/search?q=Red&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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