Farewell to a lifelong Ranger, Marc Staal

After 13 years, the New York Rangers have parted ways with Marc Staal

Marc Staal has been a cornerstone of the Rangers’ defense for 13 years and was one of the last links to the great Ranger teams of the early 2010s.   Only Henrik Lundqvist, Chris Kreider and Jesper Fast remain from the team that lost the Stanley Cup Final to the Los Angeles Kings in 2014.  In just a few weeks, Kreider may be the only one left.

In recent years Staal has been maligned, mostly for his expensive contract and also for a degradation of play.  As we bid him adieu, it’s important to remember that he was a key member of one of the best defensive corps in the NHL and an outstanding New York Ranger.  He was a team leader, a mentor to young players and a stable presence on the team ever since he played 80 games in his rookie season in 2007-08.

Staal had been drafted 12th overall in the first round of the 2005 NHL Entry Draft.  He was the consolation prize for the Blueshirts in the year of the Sidney Crosby sweepstakes.  He is one of the best first round picks in Rangers history.

His name was called by his brother Eric that year.

No player drafted by the Rangers in the last 20 years has played more NHL games than Staal. The last Ranger draft pick to play more games  for the Blueshirts than Staal’s 892 games was Brian Leetch, picked in 1986.   Staal is in sixth place in games played as a Ranger, trailing only Harry Howell, Leetch, Rod Gilbert, Ron Greschner and Walt Tkaczuk.   Add his 107 playoff games and he has played 959 games in a Ranger uniform.   Only seven Rangers have played more seasons in New York than Marc Staal.

Since the 2005-06 season he is 58th in the NHL with 1,162 blocked shots and is 83rd with 1,308 hits.

Staal leaves New York having scored 43 goals and 145 assists for 188 points.  He scored the first goal for the team this season on opening night against Winnipeg.  His last goal as a Blueshirt came in the first game of the Stanley Cup Qualifier against Carolina.  His shorthanded goal with under two minutes left in the game pulled the Rangers within a goal of the Hurricanes.

It was his seventh playoff goal and his first shorthanded tally in the postseason.  However, most fans remember one goal in particular, in the fifth game of the 2012 Stanley Cup Semifinals against Washington.

The Rangers had tied the game on a Brad Richards power play goal with 6.6 seconds left in the third period and went into overtime still on the power play due to a double minor penalty taken by the Capitals’ Joel Ward.  Staal scored the biggest goal of his career just 1:35 into the overtime, on the power play.

Injury prone

In his first four seasons Staal was an iron man, missing only seven games.  His injury problems began in February 2011 when he was hit by his brother Eric in a game against the Hurricanes.  Marc Staal was concussed and suffered effects of the injury for months.  He missed most of the first half of the next season, but was able to resume full time duties late in the 2011-12 season, in time for his playoff heroics.  In the lockout shortened next season he played 21 games before suffering another devastating injury.

That injury was the most scary.  In March, 2013, in a game against the Flyers,  a Kimmo Timonen shot was deflected into Staal’s right eye, causing a tear in the retina and a fractured orbital bone. It ended Staal’s season, but he was able to return the next season and play 72 regular season and 25 playoff games as the Rangers drove to the Stanley Cup Finals.

He suffered a variety of minor ailments including an ankle infection that required surgery in November of this past season.  He did play in 79 games in the 2018-19 season as a top pair defenseman, a role he wasn’t well suited for.

In October this season, Staal was a healthy scratch for the first time in his career, replaced in the lineup by rookie Ryan Lindgren.  It was very frustrating for Staal and he didn’t take it well.  The ankle injury occurred right after he returned to the lineup so he played only two games in a six week period  from October to December.

One of the biggest issues for Staal was related to his contract.  In January 2015, he signed a six year extension worth $34.2 million. This came a year after fellow blueliner Dan Girardi was given a similar deal by Glen Sather.  With an annual cap hit of $5.7 million, the contract became a salary cap burden and Staal has been a perpetual buyout candidate for a number of years.

Still, despite advancing age and injuries, Staal remained a solid blueliner who was relied upon by coach David Quinn.  Until the acquisition of Jacob Trouba, Staal was always among the team leaders in defensive zone starts and was often matched up against the opposition’s top forwards.

Remember the good days

It’s important for Ranger fans to remember the good days when Marc Staal was a top, shutdown defenseman on an annual Stanley Cup contender.   Along with Ryan McDonagh, Girardi, Anton Stralman and Kevin Klein, the Rangers defense was considered one of the best in the NHL.

A natural leader, Staal was named an alternate captain by John Tortorella in October 2010, although he was only 23 years old.   He never relinquished that role and the last two seasons was in the rotation of team captains chosen by Quinn.

He never hesitated to talk to the media after tough losses and he was constantly cited by Quinn for his impact on his teammates.   There’s no doubt he will be missed.

We’ll leave you with the Marc Staal we all should remember, throwing a massive hit in 2010.

The 2020-21 schedule is not published yet so there is no way of knowing when Marc Staal will return to Madison Square Garden for a different team.   You can be sure that the Rangers will salute him for his 13 years of service to the team.