Eric Staal potentially nearing one last NHL contract
The Florida Panthers have center Eric Staal skating with the team but he has no contract due to Florida's cap situation. Staal was invited to camp for a professional tryout. General manager Bill Zito would like to add another veteran center to his lineup. The thirty-seven year old Staal continues to practice with the team and remain patient to see if things work out in his favor.
Staal would likely sign a one year deal for a reasonable $750,000. Staal is not the player he once was but he still can add some value to an NHL club. A veteran center with almost thirteen hundred NHL games played and over one thousand career points.
Even with Aaron Ekblad out on long term injured reserve, he is due back in November at some point. So this does not free up any moves for Florida right now. The Panthers are a prime example of what being in salary cap constraints can to do to an NHL club. As it stands, they don't even have the cap flexibility to sign Staal to a one year deal. Bill Zito will have to get creative or perhaps trade someone away to free up some room. This problem could plague the Panthers for the whole season and this could be problematic. As the season progresses, most playoff teams like to add players near trade deadline time. If the Panthers can't address this issue, they might not be able to make any moves to improve their team this year or in the near future.
