Hurricanes bringing back their captain. Here’s what Jordan Staal will make

Forget free agency. Jordan Staal is staying with the Carolina Hurricanes.

The team captain has agreed to a four-year contract that will pay the veteran center an average of $2.9 million a season, it was announced Sunday. The deal comes a week before Staal was to become an unrestricted free agent.

The new deal includes a full no-move clause in the first three years and a full no-trade clause for the fourth season.

“Obviously, it’s where I wanted to be,” Staal said Sunday on a media call. “I feel like we’ve got some unfinished business and I’m just super-excited to be part of the organization and this group of guys.

“Just everything about it just fit exactly how I wanted to finish off my career. It’s going to be a lot of fun and a lot of good future memories.”

Staal, 34, has been with the Hurricanes since June 2012, when he was traded by the Pittsburgh Penguins in a deal announced during the first night of the NHL Draft in Pittsburgh. He soon signed a 10-year extension with Carolina through the 2022-23 season that paid $6 million a season.

“I wanted to finish that contract and still finish playing well and playing hard and see what happens after that,” Staal said. “Once it was done, and the way it ended, too, and the way I was playing I felt like I could still contribute to the group and help a really good team win a (Stanley) Cup. I wanted to keep going.”

Staal agreed to take less money in the new extension but a four-year term that will take him through the 2026-27 season, when he will be 38.

“There’s not a whole lot of guys who keep playing after this contract,” Staal said. “We’ll see when we get to the end of it. Obviously I’m at the tail end of my career.

“But I’m ready to grind. I’m ready to play. I feel really good about my game and I feel like I can help the team for the rest of this contract, and I’m going to do the best to my abilities. I’m just happy about this deal and where the team is headed.”

Staal was named captain before the 2019-20 season after also serving one season as a co-captain with former defenseman Justin Faulk in 2017-18. His leadership and selfless play on the ice — Staal has been the Canes’ best defensive forward, at times at the expense of his offense — and his quiet but firm leadership earned him the respect of his teammates and head coach Rod Brind’Amour.

“He leads this team everywhere. He’s the guy you look up to,” forward Jesper Fast said after this past season.

Staal has been a consistently good penalty killer in his career. He’s the Canes’ most reliable player in taking draws, especially in the defensive zone. At 6-4 and 220 pounds, he’s one of the team’s biggest, strongest players.

Staal chuckled Sunday when asked if his role might now change, quipping, “I’d love more ice time, for sure. Having maybe a little power-play time would be great. My role could change that way, too.

“Nah, I’m just kidding. We’ll see how it goes. Obviously, it’s year by year and game by game. We’ve got a really good team and I’m going to fit in wherever I need to fit in. I feel like I’ve done that the past few years, just in accepting my role and trying to help the team and help the guys win games. That’s all I’m here for.”

Staal was nominated by the Canes for the King Clancy Memorial Trophy for a fourth straight season and sixth time overall. The award is given to the NHL player who exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and has made a “noteworthy humanitarian contribution to his community.”

“Jordan embodies what it means to be a Hurricane,” president and general manager Don Waddell said in a statement. “His leadership has been an integral part of our success and the impact he has made on our organization cannot be overstated.”

The Canes have reached the Stanley Cup playoffs the past five seasons under Brind’Amour, twice advancing to the Eastern Conference final. They won the newly formed Central Division in 2021 during a season shortened by the coronavirus pandemic, then were Metropolitan Division winners the past two seasons.

Soon after the Canes were swept this past season by the Florida Panthers in the Eastern final, Staal said he wanted to remain with the Hurricanes to complete some “unfinished business.”

A former first-round draft pick by the Penguins — No. 2 overall in 2006 — Staal now has played 1,173 regular-season games and 131 playoff games in his 17 NHL seasons. He spent his first six seasons with the Pens, winning a Stanley Cup ring in 2009.

After the 2012 trade to Carolina, Staal had hoped to join older brother Eric, then the team captain and top-line center, in helping the Canes return to the playoffs and contend for another Stanley Cup championship. That didn’t happen and Eric Staal was traded to the New York Rangers in February 2016.

With Justin Williams as captain, the Canes returned to the playoffs in 2019. Williams decided to take time away from hockey following the 2018-19 season and Jordan Staal was made the captain.

Williams ended his hockey “sabbatical” and returned during the 2019-20 season, but Staal retained the “C’ and has said he relishes the role.

“I guess the best thing is just in having that honor and knowing the coaching staff and the organization trusts you to be that guy,” he said. “There are only so many captains throughout NHL history to put that on and be a leader, and the expectations to be a leader is a great honor.

“It’s challenging. It’s an every-day thing. You’ve got to bring your own work ethic and your day to day stuff. It’s not just about you when you have that ‘C.’ It’s about trying to make sure everyone’s pushed and making sure everyone’s taken care of and you kind of have an eye on all the guys.”