Inside Eric Staals improbable journey from NHL unemployment back to the Stanley Cup Final

The Athletic has live coverage of Stanley Cup Final Game 2 featuring the Panthers vs. Golden Knights

SUNRISE, Fla. — Eric Staal is a veteran of 1,365 regular-season games and Saturday night in Las Vegas will play his 100th career playoff game when the 2006 Stanley Cup champ takes part in the second Stanley Cup Final in his past two NHL seasons.

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But let’s be honest: He has defied some incredible odds to get here.

This is a league where young pups are getting more opportunities than ever. This is a league where it’s nearly impossible to get another shot after missing an entire hockey season because one couldn’t find a job. And this is a league where most veterans forced to sign PTOs (professional tryouts) are simply practice and exhibition-game placeholders until they’re unceremoniously cut and sent on their unmerry way toward Europe or retirement.

Yet, after advancing to the Stanley Cup Final with the Canadiens in 2021 and taking part in the Winter Olympics with Canada in 2022 because he couldn’t find a day job, Staal has gone from not playing in the NHL all of last season to earning a one-year contract off a PTO with the Panthers — and now, eight months later, to landing in another Stanley Cup Final at the tender age of 38.

“Unique circumstances, personally, but now I’m right where I’m supposed to be and in an opportunity that I’m grateful for,” Staal says. “Really happy to be alongside these guys, and this group, and this team. It’s very special, and the opportunity is one you need to cherish and enjoy, and I just look forward to wherever we go next.”

On July 13, Staal was having lunch off the 18th hole at Pebble Beach with his brothers: Marc, Jordan and Jared. The trip was a gift for Jordan from his Hurricanes teammates a year earlier, to celebrate his 1,000th game. The brothers hadn’t previously taken advantage of it because of the pandemic.

Marc, then 35, was an unrestricted free agent. Eric, then 37, figured his career was over. In 2021-22, his only professional action had been four games for the Iowa Wild. It was a favor from Wild general manager Bill Guerin, who had traded him to Buffalo the previous season for Marcus Johansson. But Staal wanted to use Iowa as a chance to tune up for the Olympics with the hope of also signing a last-ditch NHL contract with a contender after he returned from Beijing in advance of the 2022 trade deadline. The opportunity never came, though, and he was contemplating retirement, counseled by his wife, Tanya, and his parents, Henry and Linda.

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On the 18th hole that day, Marc agreed to a one-year deal with Panthers GM Bill Zito. In the same conversation, Zito asked if Eric would consider a training-camp tryout.

That could be humbling for a 17-year NHL veteran who three times had hit the 40-goal mark and once reached the 100-point plateau.

For Staal, though, it was a no-brainer to have a chance to play with his brother again (they played together briefly on the Rangers in 2016) and have a chance to win the Stanley Cup. Remember, the Panthers amassed the most points in the NHL in 2021-22.

“That lunch at Pebble Beach will always be a special memory,” Staal says, adding with a hearty laugh, “We basically signed at the same time. I just signed something that only said ‘PTO’ on it and he signed something that had a dollar figure behind it.”

What’s happened since has been a dream in a career that’s now at 18 seasons and 1,364 regular-season games, with 455 goals and 1,063 points — especially after some of the dark days he had during his year off.

Eric Staal sets up teammate Carter Verhaeghe against the Flames. (Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)

“It was fun at times because I was with my kids and coaching them and being at home in Minnesota, being a dad, but also really hard at times because I missed it and knew that I could still be a contributor and play,” Staal says. “There were ups and downs. I’m sure my wife dealt with a lot of conversations from her husband after playing the game as long as I have, dealing a lot emotionally with what I was going through. But she was so supportive and along with a lot of other people, too.

“I’m happy to obviously be back in this opportunity and have this chance. It was difficult at times but also refreshing at times. It took me a little bit to get going — longer than I wanted — this season, but once I got going, it was good. My body feels really good, and at this point of the year you’re always battling through some things, but overall, I feel really good and just enjoying coming to the rink and playing. This is the best time of year to be playing and just loving it.”

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Staal would have made the Panthers out of camp, but the team didn’t have the cap space to sign him. He had to wait patiently for a spot to open. Alas, Aaron Ekblad was injured in Florida’s third game. He was placed on long-term injured reserve, and Staal was signed before Florida’s fifth game.

“I had a good camp. I was in great shape. I was excited, ready to go. But, yeah, the cap,” Staal says. “I had a good conversation with (Zito) and with Mo (coach Paul Maurice), and they were honest with me and I was honest with them. I talked it over with my family and still was communicating with them as far as what they thought a good game plan was moving forward.

“And then we mapped that out and then the season started. And unfortunately for Ekky, but fortunately for me, he got banged up really early and that ended up opening up some room and I got signed and got in the mix. I considered retirement because I didn’t know what was ahead and obviously I wasn’t getting any calls from the other teams. It was either here or nowhere. With the cap, I wasn’t sure how long I was just going to hang out. It was like I’m either going to be a part of it or I’m not. And it was one of those things that worked out the way it was supposed to.”

Part of the intrigue of coming to Florida was playing for Maurice again. This was Staal’s coach back when he was a young star in Raleigh. There’s mutual respect with Maurice, and also a comfort level. Maurice had to trust that Staal would be mature enough to accept a fourth-line role.

That’s not easy for a guy who spent his career being first over the boards in every situation. But Staal assured Maurice he wanted to carve out a role and be part of a Stanley Cup championship. Staal points to how Matt Cullen transitioned late in his career into “an important fourth-line center for Pittsburgh, and they won two Cups,” and says he used his former Canes teammate as his example.

“(Staal used to be) first over the bench on your power plays, playing against the other team’s best — he’s playing 23 minutes — and he turned himself into a penalty killer, fourth-liner, and when the clock gets to a certain part of the game where he knows he’s probably not going back out, he’s pure cheerleader,” Maurice says. “What does that do for your team? He, and I put Patric Hornqvist (unavailable due to post-concussion syndrome) in there with him — the older Stanley Cup champions just love coming to the rink every day, staying out late, working their butts off. So nobody in that room gets to get off the ice early.  All the older guys with Stanley Cup rings are still on the ice, you may want to consider that for yourself.”

And for the Staal Bros., playing together has been a treat. They live close to each other in Parkland. Each has three children, and when the kids aren’t in school together and want to go swimming or play street hockey or spend the afternoon at the beach 10 miles away, Eric gets in the golf cart he rented and drives his kids over to his brother’s house.

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“We’ve traded our snowsuits for swimsuits,” Eric jokes. “Super, super cool memories.”

“And the kids come in here after the games,” adds Marc, a veteran of 16 seasons and 2014 Stanley Cup finalist with New York. “It’s pretty special, man. They’re going to remember this for the rest of their lives, as are we. Just a lot of great moments and memories. I mean, this is what we envisioned in the summertime. Right here, right now.”

They can make it sound like a vacation, but the brothers haven’t been passengers for the Panthers on the ice. Eric was eighth on the team with 14 goals during the regular season, adding 15 assists in limited ice time. Marc was fourth among team defensemen at 18:12 of ice time per game during the regular season, including 2:34 on the penalty kill, and is playing 21:54 per game during the postseason. Maurice says, in his mind, Marc’s had a career year in terms of consistency playing next to Brandon Montour.

It hasn’t all been positive along the way. Eric and Marc also put themselves in the middle of the NHL’s controversy over players refusing to wear Pride jerseys in March, citing their religious beliefs in declining to wear themed warmup jerseys alongside teammates on the Panthers’ Pride night.

Eric says it was “extremely thought out.”

“It felt like it was the position that we wanted to take at that time and still feel that way,” he says. “I think everyone has a right to do whatever they want or however they’re going to live. I don’t have any thoughts on how anyone chooses to live. That was a decision that it’s like a promotion-type thing, and we just felt like it’s something that we just didn’t want to promote. It was simple as that.”

Staal has long had a reputation as being one of the best guys in hockey. Is he worried that that one decision might have sullied it in some people’s eyes? He says no. And the only thing he regrets is saying at the time that he’d never wear the jersey and had never worn one. There is video of him wearing a Pride jersey in warmups with Montreal two years earlier.

#FlaPanthers Eric Staal post-game, when told there is photographic evidence of him wearing a pride jersey in Montreal:

“I haven’t before. I never have. … I haven’t worn a pride jersey before.”

(Staal wore No. 21 with the Canadiens during the 2020-21 season.) pic.twitter.com/aHmOgkRNBo

— Erin Brown (@rinkside) March 24, 2023

“There were so many thoughts and emotions that I didn’t know or realize I wore it,” Staal says. “I actually completely forgot. And I felt really dumb after that. But also I didn’t remember at all. And then looking back, in that moment, I was probably like, this is COVID, no fans, and it happened really fast. I showed up and it was there (in my locker room stall). And I was like, ‘Umm.’ But anyway, it is what it is. That’s the decision we made. And I’m OK with that.”

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Staal understands the backlash and says he respects everyone’s opinion. He says he’s put it behind him, with his focus entirely on Lord Stanley’s Cup and doing everything he can to help the Panthers win it.

Back in March, when the Panthers were out of a playoff spot, Zito approached Staal with the chance to be traded to a contender. Staal declined, saying he wanted to finish what he started and help the team that gave him a chance when nobody else wanted to.

“He goes to the Final with Montreal and then there’s nothing really out there for him after that,” Marc says. “But I think he knew he could still play in the league and make an impact on a team. He still had that desire. He’s got a crazy hunger and desire just to keep playing the game. He loves it. I really hope we can do this together because I’m proud that he made it back here.”

And Eric is proud of himself, too. Making an NHL team on a tryout at age 37 going on 38 is not easily achieved after a year out of the league.

“But the winning is why you do it,” he says. “The being part of a team is why you do it. This is the only reason why I’m playing at this point, 100 percent. This is fun. Even as a fan, when you’re watching teams and you’re watching the moments, how can you not just love that? And for me to be tying up my skates in the month of June, that’s the best part.”

(Top photo: Sarah Stier / Getty Images)

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