Eric Staal is already a legendary NHL player, remembered for his performances for the Carolina Hurricanes.
Canadian hockey player and centre forward Eric Craig Staal was born on 29 October 1984 in Thunder Bay, Ontario. He won the Stanley Cup in 2006 with the Carolina Hurricanes. In 2007, he became world champion, and in 2010, he became an Olympic champion with the Canadian national team. He is also a member of the Triple Gold Club.
Eric has three younger brothers who are also hockey players. Mark played with Eric in Florida, Jordan played for the Carolina Hurricanes, and his younger brother Jared was drafted by the Phoenix Coyotes in the second round in 2008. He played two NHL games for the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2012–13 season.
Club career
Eric Staal’s career began in the Ontario Junior League, where he spent three seasons with the Peterborough Pete (185 games, 209 points). In the 2003 NHL draft, he was selected second overall by the Carolina Hurricanes. The hockey player immediately secured a place in the main squad, playing his debut season (81 games, 31 points) and participating in the Young Stars Game. Due to the lockout, Eric played for the farm club the following year.
The 2005–06 season was a triumphant one: Staal, as one of the leaders, helped Carolina win the Stanley Cup (28 points in 25 playoff games). After that, the club signed him to a three-year contract worth $13.5 million. In the following years, he represented the Eastern Conference twice in the NHL All-Star Game and was once named Most Valuable Player (MVP). In the summer of 2009, Staal signed a seven-year, $57.5 million contract with the Hurricanes.
In early 2010, he was named captain of his club, the Carolina Hurricanes.
In February 2016, he was traded to the New York Rangers.
After his contract expired, he signed a three-year deal with the Minnesota Wild.
The contract was worth $10.5 million.
Eric Staal played his 1,000th NHL game in 2017 and scored over 400 goals for the third time in the 2017/18 season. In December 2019, the hockey player reached the 1,000-point mark in the NHL regular season. After trades to Buffalo and Montreal (2020-2021), Eric missed the 2021/22 season.
In the summer of 2022, Staal joined his brother Mark with the Florida Panthers, playing his 1,300th game. In December 2022, he made his 600th assist, and in February 2023, he scored his 450th goal, entering the top 75 scorers in the league. That same season, he reached the Stanley Cup Final.
In July 2024, after playing 1,365 games and scoring 1,063 points, Eric Staal officially ended his career by signing a one-day contract with Carolina, which retired his number 12 in January 2025.
International career
Eric Staal made his debut for Team Canada at the 2007 World Championships in Moscow, where he won gold alongside his brother Jordan (10 points in the tournament). At the 2008 World Championships, he won silver.
In 2010, at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Staal won Olympic gold (1 goal, 5 assists), joining the ‘Triple Gold Club’ (23rd player).
He was captain at the 2013 World Championships but was injured in the quarter-finals. In 2002, the 37-year-old Staal took part in the Beijing Olympics, where his team lost to Sweden in the quarter-finals.
