Staal Signs New Hurricanes Deal

The Hurricanes whittled down their internal free agent list on Tuesday, signing forward Jared Staal to a one-year, two-way contract.

Staal becomes the fourth restricted free agent to sign a new contract in the last week, joining center Riley Nash, defenseman Michal Jordan and goaltender Mike Murphy. Of those that Carolina qualified earlier this month, forwards Zach Boychuk and Zac Dalpe are the only players who have yet to sign new contracts.

Staal, 22, set new AHL career highs with 52 games played, four goals and seven points in his third full professional campaign last season. He also made his NHL debut with the Hurricanes in the regular-season’s final week, starting his first game alongside brothers Eric and Jordan for a home game against the New York Rangers on April 25, when they became the fourth trio of brothers to play for the same team during the same season.

The Phoenix Coyotes’ second-round draft choice (49th overall) in 2008, Staal played in all but one of Charlotte’s 40 games following the conclusion of the recent NHL lockout, having served a single-game boarding suspension in April.

Including the aforementioned restricted free agents, Staal is the sixth player to sign a two-way contract with Carolina since July 9. A complete list of offseason activity can be found here.