|
"I've let it be known that I've enjoyed it and
I'd like to stay," Staal said during the NHL Player Media Tour
on Thursday. "I think it's a great fit for me hockey-wise.
They're a team that wants to win the Stanley Cup real bad and so
do I."
Staal, 33, says he has spoken briefly with general manager Paul
Fenton about a new contract, but that they agreed to get the
season underway first. Staal is entering the final season of his
three-year contract.
Envisioning a run at the NHL title is the difference between
this season and three seasons ago, when he was finishing up a
contract with the Carolina Hurricanes, who weren't expected to
be a factor in the postseason.
The Hurricanes dealt him to the New York Rangers in February
2016.
"This is a team that expects to win," Staal said. "That makes it
a different situation just for me, my own mental side. In
Carolina, I could see the writing on the wall and it was one of
those things where we were kind of methodically going through
the months to get to the point where it was time for me to move
on. It doesn't have that same feel."
Staal, a center, scored 42 goals last season, just three off his
career high, which came in his second season with the Hurricanes
in 2005-06. His 76 points were tied for third-best in his 14
seasons.
The Hurricanes selected Staal second overall in the 2003 draft.
In 909 games, he has 775 points on 322 goals and 453 assists.
--Field Level Media
[© 2018 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2018 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
 |
|
