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NHL Trade Rumors: Predators, Canadiens Fits For Eric Staal

By Dave Stevenson

Mar 17, 2015; Raleigh, NC, USA; Carolina Hurricanes forward Eric Staal (12) skates with puck against the Ottawa Senators at PNC Arena. The Ottawa Senators defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 2-1 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 17, 2015; Raleigh, NC, USA; Carolina Hurricanes forward Eric Staal (12) skates with puck against the Ottawa Senators at PNC Arena. The Ottawa Senators defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 2-1 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports /
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Hurricanes center Eric Staal will likely be traded during the 2015 NHL season and the Predators and Canadiens will likely be his strongest suitors.

The Carolina Hurricanes will likely be losing their star center Eric Staal since he’s an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2015-2016 season. He had 54 points (23 goals and 31 assists) in 77 games during the 2014-2015 season and has 14 points in 23 games this season. The Hurricanes could get a pretty nice haul for him because he’ll be the best rental forward available. He’ll have a huge list of suitors because Staal is a center who could easily make any contender better.

“I certainly – I know Eric Staal doesn’t want to leave and with his no-movement clause, he doesn’t have to. But if I were him, I would think pretty strongly about leaving if that’s what Carolina wants,” TSN’s Pierre LeBrun, via Today’s Slapshot. “Now again, we are not saying they do. They haven’t met yet. But if that’s the decision, the reason I would if I were Staal is that you augment your own market value heading into UFA by going to a contender and perhaps playing well.”

“But given how rarely No. 1 centers are dealt mid-season before the trade deadline, usually it’s always off-season, I would think that the Hurricanes would get decent value on him. You think of some of the teams that could really use him, I think of Nashville. It just so happens his former coach, Peter Laviolette, is in Nashville. I think he’d be a great fit there. I mean, who knows about Montreal? They’ve been looking for a big center forever.”

“But listen, we could do this all day. We could probably look at about 10 teams and think Eric Staal could help them, no question.”

The St. Louis Blues would likely also be interested in Staal as they need to get more production from their centers. The Ducks could be interested as well.

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