Staal

RALEIGH, NC – Jim Rutherford, President and General Manager of the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes, today announced that the team has agreed to terms with center Jordan Staal on a 10-year contract extension. The deal begins with the 2013-14 NHL season and extends through the 2022-23 season, paying Staal $6 million per season.

“We are very pleased that Jordan has chosen to commit to the Hurricanes organization and to make North Carolina his home,” said Rutherford. “At 23 years old he is just starting to come into his prime, and he now represents a cornerstone of our franchise for the long term.”

Staal, 23, completed his sixth NHL season in 2011-12, posting career highs in assists (25) and points (50), and a career second-best 25 goals, despite playing in just 62 of Pittsburgh’s 82 regular-season games. The Thunder Bay, Ont., native added six goals and three assists (9 points) to lead the Penguins in scoring in their six-game, first-round playoff series against Philadelphia.

In six NHL seasons with Pittsburgh, Staal (6’4”, 220 lbs.) has scored 120 goals, earned 128 assists and posted a plus-53 plus/minus rating in 431 regular-season games. The Penguins have qualified for the playoffs in each of his six seasons, and he captured the Stanley Cup with Pittsburgh in 2009. In 73 career Stanley Cup playoff games, he has scored 23 goals and earned 13 assists (36 points). The Penguins selected Staal in the first round, second overall, in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft. He is the younger brother of Hurricanes captain Eric Staal.