NHL: Eric Staal is back in the NHL with the Panthers

Sunrise, Florida. Veteran Center Eric Stahl She signed a one-year, $750,000 contract with the Florida Panthers.

Under the agreement, Staal will again become a teammate of his younger brother Mark.

Coach Paul Morris said Eric Stahl will not be wearing a uniform tonight as he faces the Panthers Tampa Bay Lightning.

This is also the second time that Stahl and Maurice find themselves within the same organization; Morris coached him for five seasons with the Carolina Hurricanes.

Eric Stahl, winner of the Stanley Cup as well as gold medals at the Olympics and World Championships, will celebrate his 38th birthday on October 29. So he could become the fourth-oldest player to play at least one National Hockey League game this season, after Mark Giordano (39) in Toronto, Joe Pavlesky (38) in Dallas and Zach Baresi, (38) with the New York Islanders. .

Staal has been in the panther environment since the summer and was invited as part of a professional trial. Morris had notably said of him that he was in “the best physical condition of his life”.

Staal has continued to skate with the other players on the team for the past few days without making the roster officially because the Panthers didn’t have the salary cap to make room for him.

However, after putting defender Aaron Ekblad on the long-term injury list until at least mid-November, the Panthers were able to make way for Stahl.

For Eric Stahl, the Panthers represent the sixth organization he will sign a contract with in the NHL. Besides the Hurricanes, he also played for the Minnesota Wild, New York Rangers, Buffalo Sabers, and Montreal Canadiens.

It was with the Canadians that Staal played his last game in the NHL. It was July 7, 2021 against Lightning in the Stanley Cup Finals.

In 1,293 season games, Stahl scored 441 goals and 593 assists for a total of 1,034 points.