From Tim Wharnsby of CBC:

Even though Eric Staal is one of only 10 Canadians in the exclusive 27-member Triple Gold Club for winning a Stanley Cup, a world championship and Olympic gold, the 32-year-old centre had plenty to prove with the Minnesota Wild this season....

Minnesota signed Staal to a bargain $3.5-million US per season three-year contract on July 1. The Wild had hired a new head coach in Bruce Boudreau a few weeks earlier. As coach of the Washington Capitals, Boudreau had an up-close-and-personal view of how Staal performed in his halcyon days with the Hurricanes.

There was no doubt Staal had lost his standing among the elite players in the league. There was no spot for him on the 2014 Canadian Olympic team in Sochi. Ditto for the Canadian contingent at the World Cup of Hockey last September.

But Boudreau didn't care about Staal's unproductive stint with the Rangers. The new Wild coach didn't care that Staal was coming off a 13-goal season, his lowest total since his 11-goal rookie year.

Boudreau also didn't care that, with the exception of the brief five-game post-season appearance with the Rangers, the last time Staal had been in the Stanley Cup playoffs was the 2009 East final with the Hurricanes.

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