Updated 6x at 2:03 PM: From TSN’s Bob McKenzie:
Working free agent day on Wednesday. Let’s see if I remember how to do this: Marc Staal returning to DET on a one-year deal. @TSNHockey— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) July 25, 2021
Update: The Red Wings confirm:
UPDATE: The Detroit #RedWings today agreed to terms with defenseman Marc Staal on a one-year contract extension. pic.twitter.com/ajdvbGxDq1— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) July 25, 2021
I have no problem with a Staal extension. The Red Wings and Staal liked the fit and finish, he’s probably coming back affordably, and that pretty much takes care of the Wings’ need for a left-shot defenseman on the 3rd pair.
Done, done, done.— George Malik (@georgemalik) July 25, 2021
Khan:
#RedWings sign the left-shooting D-man they were seeking. Blue line now consists of LD: Leddy, DeKeyser, Staal; RD: Hronek, Stecher, Lindstrom, Seider. https://t.co/QGi0QX324Z— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) July 25, 2021
Appears to be in the $2 million range.— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) July 25, 2021
Marc Staal’s extension with #RedWings is 1 year x $2 million. Full no-move clause. @DFOHockey— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) July 25, 2021
Staal, 34, was set to become an unrestricted free agent on Wednesday.
He spent last season with the Red Wings after playing with the New York Rangers for the first 13 seasons of his NHL career. He was dealt to Detroit last September and is coming off a six-year, $34.2 million contract.
He had three goals and seven assists in 56 games last season.
More: The No-Move Clause doesn’t bug me a bit:
Marc Staal is currently 34 years of age.
He was a pending UFA coming off of a 6 year x $5.7M contract
He was traded to Detroit on September 26, 2020https://t.co/I935ldIto1— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) July 25, 2021
Marc Staal’s one-year extension with Detroit is worth $2M. Includes full no-movement clause.— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) July 25, 2021
$2M deal, full NMC https://t.co/t5JF4d13jZ— David Pagnotta (@TheFourthPeriod) July 25, 2021
Signed to Standard Contract
Marc Staal (LD) | DET#LGRWhttps://t.co/RSHSpZU6SR— CapFriendly Transactions (@CF_Transactions) July 25, 2021
Detroit #RedWings update with Marc Staal added:
$37.6M in cap space
Roster size: 13 (6F – 5D – 2G)
RFAs include:
F Bertuzzi
F Erne
F Vrana
F Svechnikov
F Brome
D Djoos
D Hronek
D Lindstromhttps://t.co/BnEcjGVtxW— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) July 25, 2021
Red Wings get their left shot veteran PK defenseman https://t.co/JkXCygiNmA— Max Bultman (@m_bultman) July 25, 2021
Update #2: Here’s the Free Press’s Helene St. James on the Staal extension:
Staal projects to partner with Moritz Seider, the No. 6 pick from 2019 who is poised to join the lineup this fall. Seider has been vocal about how much it helped his development in Sweden, where he played in 2019-20 for Rögle because of the pandemic, to be partnered with veteran Eric Gelinas. Staal, the 12th pick in the 2005 draft, is a veteran of 948 NHL games. He plays a smart, efficient game, often using his 6-feet-4, 209-pound body to break up plays.
While training camp and exhibition season will be much more of a barometer of how the pairings evolve, as it stands now the top four shape up to be Staal-Seider, Leddy-Hronek. That’s two left-shots in Staal and Leddy, and right-shots in Seider and Hronek.
Staal’s extension also gives the Wings insurance for Danny DeKeyser, the veteran defenseman who hasn’t looked like his former self since back surgery in December 2019.
Welcome back Staalsie!!! #LGRW pic.twitter.com/vl9rKugANh— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) July 25, 2021
Update #3: Here’s MLive’s Ansar Khan’s report:
Staal (6-4, 209) is coming off a solid season. He and Hronek were the only Red Wings to play in all 56 games. Staal had three goals and seven assists, along with a minus-5 rating.
Staal expressed a desire to return shortly after the season.
“I had a lot of fun this season,” Staal said in May. “It was good to have a fresh start. I enjoyed going to the rink every day. Really nothing but positives my whole experience start to finish. Got a good opportunity to play and for the most part I was playing quite a few minutes.
“It’s a fun D corps to play with, a lot of great guys, not a lot of big, selfish personalities, everyone just wanting to play well and help the team win.”
Update #4: Here’s the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan’s report:
In postseason interviews with the media, Staal left little doubt he was open to a return to the Wings, talking about how the move to Detroit re-energized his career.
Staal was hopeful of possibly filling a mentor role for rookie prospect defenseman Moritz Seider. Staal felt the Wings helped his overall approach to the game.
“The last couple of years in New York, the last few years, we had a successful run for a bunch of years and (then) we were going through a rebuild. It’s hard for everyone,” Staal said. “I don’t think I realized how much it was dragging on me until I started on a new team and I just got to go out and play and have fun. It helped my game, for sure. I know it did. It benefited me, and hopefully the Wings were happy with what they got.”
The Wings’ defense currently has Staal, Danny DeKeyser and Nick Leddy on the left side, while Filip Hronek, Troy Stecher, Gustav Lindstrom and Seider project to fill the right side.
The start of unrestricted free agency in the NHL begins Wednesday. The Wings currently have $37.6 million worth of cap space, with 13 players signed, and might be looking for forwards with the defense mostly set.
Update #5: Here’s the Wings’ press release:
RED WINGS AGREE TO ONE-YEAR EXTENSION WITH DEFENSEMAN MARC STAAL …
Veteran of 14 NHL Seasons Skated in All 56 Games for Detroit in 2020-21 …
DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings today agreed to terms with defenseman Marc Staal on a one-year contract extension.
Staal, 34, was one of two Red Wings to play all 56 games during the 2020-21 season (along with Filip Hronek) and ranked among team leaders with 20 penalty minutes (T7th), 58 hits (7th), 45 blocked shots (7th) and 18:25 average time on ice (5th). The 6-foot-4, 209-pound blueliner hit a pair of milestones last season, skating in his 900th NHL game on Jan. 28 at Dallas and reaching 150 NHL assists on April 28 vs. Chicago. After spending the first 13 seasons of his career with the New York Rangers, Staal was acquired by the Red Wings in a trade on Sept. 26, 2020 along with a second-round pick in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, which was part of the package that allowed Detroit to trade up from 23rd to 15th overall in the first round to select goaltender Sebastian Cossa, in exchange for future considerations. Staal has appeared in 948 NHL games since 2007-08, registering 198 points (46-152-198) and 452 penalty minutes. He’s also played 107 Stanley Cup Playoff games, contributing 20 points (7-13-20) and 42 penalty minutes. Staal was an NHL All-Star in 2010-11, a season in which he produced a career-best 29 points (7-22-29) in 77 games.
A native of Thunder Bay, Ontario, Staal was originally a first-round pick (12th overall) of the Rangers in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft. Prior to turning professional, Staal racked up 123 points (23-100-123) in 236 Ontario Hockey League games with the Sudbury Wolves from 2003-07. He capped off a decorated major-junior career in 2006-07, captaining the Wolves en route to capturing the Max Kaminsky Trophy as the league’s most-outstanding defenseman and Wayne Gretzky 99 Award as most-valuable player of the playoffs, while earning a spot on the OHL First All-Star Team and CHL First All-Star Team. On the international stage, Staal helped Canada win back-to-back gold medals at the 2006 and 2007 IIHF World Junior Championships and was named the tournament’s best defenseman in 2006. He previously captured a gold medal at the 2003 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge and debuted for the men’s national team at the 2010 IIHF World Championship.
Update #6: Here’s Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff’s report:
Following the conclusion of Saturday’s NHL entry draft, Detroit Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman allowed that he’d seek to keep a few of the club’s impending free agents in the fold for next season.
“We’ll talk to our own free agents for sure,” Yzerman said. “We’ll continue to stay in touch with them. What our needs specifically, we traded at the deadline a couple of left defensemen, so we’ve got holes on the left side that we’ll look to fill.”
Sunday, he made that happen.
The Wings and defenseman Marc Staal agreed to terms on a one-year deal for $2 million that will see the 34-year-old blueliner spend a second season in Detroit.
The Wings had sought to keep Staal in Detroit since the end of last season. They like what he had to offer, both on the ice and as a mentor to the team’s young defensemen. At 6-foot-4 and 209 pounds, Staal also provides much-needed size to the Wings blueline.
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