Hurricanes and Jordan Staal sign a 4-year contract worth $11.6 million

RALEIGH, NC –

Jordan Staal will remain with the Carolina Hurricanes after signing a four-year contract worth $11.6 million.

The team announced the deal with their captain on Sunday, less than a week before Staal would have become an unrestricted free agent.

He’s not going anywhere, he’s sticking around trying to help the team win the Stanley Cup. And Staal does so with an annual salary cap of $2.9 million through the 2026-27 season, which is a steal for a player considered one of the best defensive forwards in hockey.

“I’m ready to grind. I’m ready to play,” Staal told reporters on a conference call. “I feel very good about my game and feel I can help the team for the rest of this contract. I will do my best to use my abilities.”

“If it doesn’t work, it won’t work. But I believe I can. So I’m excited about the deal and where this team is going, the direction, and I’m just happy to be.” part of it.”

General manager Don Waddell said Staal embodies what it means to play for the Hurricanes.

“His leadership has been integral to our success and the impact he has had on our organization cannot be overstated,” Waddell said in a statement. “We couldn’t be happier to sign him for another four years.”

Staal’s new contract includes a full non-move clause for the first three years and a full non-trade clause for the final season. That gives the soon-to-be 35-year-old total control over where he plays.

That could end up being Raleigh for the rest of his career. The Thunder Bay, Ontario native, who won the Cup with Pittsburgh in 2009, has been with Carolina for a decade and has been wearing the “C” for the organization since 2019.

Staal, along with coach Rod Brind’Amour and the team’s young core, has led the Hurricanes to the playoffs each of the past five seasons. That includes division titles in the past three seasons and trips to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2019 and this year, though Carolina was swept each time.

“It’s clear where I wanted to be,” Staal said. “I feel like we have some unfinished business.”