Kukla's Korner Hockey

Eric Staal Signing With The Minnesota Wild Proves To Be A Great Bargain
by Paul on 02/10/17 at 11:48 AM ET
Comments (1)
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.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Minnesota Wild, | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: eric+staal
Comments
Add a Comment
Please limit embedded image or media size to 575 pixels wide.
Add your own avatar by joining Kukla's Korner, or logging in and uploading one in your member control panel.
Captchas bug you? Join KK or log in and you won't have to bother.

Most Recent Blog Posts
You May Have Missed The McDavid Show
The Chicago Blackhawks Want More Analytics Like MLB
Video- Barry Trotz Is A Wanted Coach
From Both Sides - Flames/Oilers
From Both Sides - Rangers/Hurricanes
Open Post- Day 17 Of The Stanley Cup Playoffs
About Kukla's Korner Hockey
Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.
From breaking news to in-depth stories around the league, KK Hockey is updated with fresh stories all day long and will bring you the latest news as quickly as possible.
Email Paul anytime at pk@kuklaskorner.com
Staal signing in MIN was in the same vein as Vanek in DET, in that at the time of the signing pretty much everyone *knew* it was a steal and had a high probability of working out well for the signing team.
Posted by Primis on 02/10/17 at 01:04 PM ET