Thomas Gidlow: Canes vs Habs preview: Could Staal's 900th be his last as a Hurricane?

We can only hope it's his last game. Trade him now, even if it is for (2) second round picks or (1) 1st round pick.
He made a huge blunder in Montreal game that lead to a Montreal goal and cannot score (ever) in shootouts.
Enough: trade him and give someone else the "C"
9 goals, what a waste of $9.2M this year (and he has stunk it up the last 5 years). If making that much money, your suppose to make players around you great, he is not a playmaker and cannot score unless it is right on his stick in close (he has no moves).

We can only hope it's his last game. Trade him now, even if it is for (2) second round picks or (1) 1st round pick.
He made a huge blunder in Montreal game that lead to a Montreal goal and cannot score (ever) in shootouts.
Enough: trade him and give someone else the "C"
9 goals, what a waste of $9.2M this year (and he has stunk it up the last 5 years). If making that much money, your suppose to make players around you great, he is not a playmaker and cannot score unless it is right on his stick in close (he has no moves).
- Raleighwood

+1

I'm still very torn over this decision to be made. My fear is all the trade options will be lowball offers and Eric may leave for one more big payday with a contender. Still would love to see him be a rental and return next year for a serious hometown discount. My hunch is he is shipped out for a 1st rounder and a young and upcoming rostered player. If he comes back which I know may NOT be too popular here remains to be seen. I'm ok with either scenario as the team must move into the next era with RF's imprint on it.

I'm still very torn over this decision to be made. My fear is all the trade options will be lowball offers and Eric may leave for one more big payday with a contender. Still would love to see him be a rental and return next year for a serious hometown discount. My hunch is he is shipped out for a 1st rounder and a young and upcoming rostered player. If he comes back which I know may NOT be too popular here remains to be seen. I'm ok with either scenario as the team must move into the next era with RF's imprint on it.
- CappyJr.

Pretty much. I don't know that we'll get an overwhelming return for him but I fail to see any logical scenario that ends with Eric Staal as a Carolina Hurricane in April.

To me the question is not whether Staal should be traded- I think the answer is yes (because he is not producing as he once was, is slower, and can't seem to score) but whom do you replace him with? A draft pick will most likely not be NHL ready for several years. And we already have quite a few picks in the 1-3 rounds for the next few years. Plus the team has to comply with the minimum salary cap if they get rid of both Ward and Staal. So they need a replacement center who is NHL ready now which perhaps could be acquired through a separate trade. It will be interesting to see how the next three weeks will develop.

To me the question is not whether Staal should be traded- I think the answer is yes (because he is not producing as he once was, is slower, and can't seem to score) but whom do you replace him with? A draft pick will most likely not be NHL ready for several years. And we already have quite a few picks in the 1-3 rounds for the next few years. Plus the team has to comply with the minimum salary cap if they get rid of both Ward and Staal. So they need a replacement center who is NHL ready now which perhaps could be acquired through a separate trade. It will be interesting to see how the next three weeks will develop.
- cbcibryant

They will have plenty of money they HAVE to spend during the offseason, plus whatever they want to spend. There will be options then to find a replacement. In the meantime I think we may see Derek Ryan in the NHL post trade deadline.