While the Carolina Hurricanes season ended in disappointment, the team had a lot to be proud of. Now in the offseason, tough decisions will be made, and management will work to put the team in a place to succeed next season. In the meantime, we will take a look back at individual players’ seasons and see how they did. For the Carolina Hurricanes offseason grades, today we look at Jordan Staal.
Carolina Hurricanes Offseason Grade: Jordan Staal
Jordan Staal has been a core piece for the Carolina Hurricanes for a while now. Obtained via a trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins during the 2012 NHL Draft, he shortly after signed a ten-year deal with Carolina. While not the flashiest player, Staal is one of the top shutdown centres in the league and a penalty-kill specialist. He uses his six-foot-four-inch, 220 lb. frame to muscle players off the puck or shield it when driving the net or generating a play down low.
A past Selke Trophy winner, the Hurricanes captain leads the Hurricanes by example. At one time there were aspirations for Staal to grow into a second-line centre following a 50 point and a few upper 40 point seasons. Even though he never really fit the stereotypical top six role, he settled into a premier third-line, shutdown centre role for the team. Many times, his line matches up with other team’s top scoring lines.
Jordan Staal’s Regular Season
Jordan Staal spent most of the regular season as the third-line centre with Jordan Martinook and Jesper Fast. That line played the most minutes of any forward line. Staal’s regular season statistics fell largely in line with his previous few. In 81 games he scored 17 goals and 17 assists. His 34 points were only two less from his 36 last season with the same amount of goals and only a dip in assists. He did have three game winning goals and showed some clutch ability. Most of his goal scoring cam in close with tips and rebounds. Offensively, his statistics put him in line with other centers such as Alexander Wennberg and Adam Lowry.
While Staal’s offensive statistics don’t jump off the page, his defensive ability and intangibles made him a crucial member of the team. His 34 points came while he led the team in defensive zone starts. As a shutdown centre, he has always been strong in the faceoff circle and held a 55.7% rate this season and also led the team in hits with 155. With taking some of the hardest matchups, he had the highest expected goals against on the team at 71.59 but actual goals against of 66. Staal was also utilized on the powerplay as a net front presence and on the penalty kill. Most of the regular season saw Staal contributing to the team exactly how was needed of him.
Jordan Staal’s Playoffs
Carolina relied maybe even more heavily on Staal for matchups in the playoffs than the regular season. Having home ice advantage, Carolina looked to utilize the last change to get Staal out against other teams’ top scoring lines. Offensively, Staal scored two goals and six assists in the 2022-23 Stanley Cup Playoffs. This is two away from his career best playoff points total.
Still leading the team in percentage of shifts starting in the defensive zone, Staal had a 15.9 expected goals against with only 10 actual goals against. Again, Staal played the most playoff games with Martinook and Fast as the team’s third-line. That line was largely a picture-perfect example of the Hurricanes identity and style. They would drive possession with a relentless forecheck. They had a 64.8% Corsi and 81.4 shot attempts for per 60 minutes as a line. This was heavily a result of Staal’s play. He was able to create space and work the puck from down low back up to the points and then be ready for tips and rebounds.
The Verdict
This Carolina Hurricanes offseason grades is deserving of high praise. Jordan Staal’s season and playoffs were very reminiscent of his previous career. As the team’s captain, some of the team’s success and failures arguably falls back on him like the coach. As a captain, Staal exhibits the traits you would want from any captain but ultimately Carolina came up short in the playoffs. Again, injuries and other factors may have played into that result so it’s probably not fair to put that on Staal. Conversely, the Hurricanes had a very successful regular season and actually exceeded many people’s expectations in the playoffs all things considered. Some of this is a result of Staal’s leadership.
Individually, Staal also pretty much met expectations. His offensive game may be somewhat on a slight decline at this point of his career, but he was still able to contribute fairly effectively on the third-line. His tough matchups and defensive ability, combined with his leadership, continued to provide Carolina with a strength that not too many can replicate. As an unrestricted free agent this summer, Staal expressed his desire to stay with the team. Look for Carolina to bring him back on what they hope will be a team friendly deal.
Grade: B
Main Photo: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports
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