Colby Guy
SUNRISE — When Eric Staal signed with the Florida Panthers this summer, his ultimate goal was to win his second Stanley Cup.
Despite the ebbs and flows of a season which has them pinned in a rough spot, Staal’s faith has not wavered.
“It is high,” Staal said of his confidence level on this team. ”I’ve believed in this team right from the summer.
”Obviously, it’s been difficult at times throughout the year with a lot of different circumstances and reasons why but we are where we are at this point and now it’s about having a big push for the rest of the way.”
Florida sat four points out of a wild card spot when trade deadline day hit and general manager Bill Zito admitted he listened to trade offers on veterans — at least to an extent.
He did not receive a good enough offer to feel comfortable giving up on his team just yet.
That includes Eric Staal.
Staal says he and Zito did not get to the point where they talked about a potential trade.
“Anything can happen and I’ve learned that over my career,’’ Staal said, “but my desire and want is to play with these guys.
”I wouldn’t say [a trade] was high on my radar to be completely honest. Being here with this group and playing the way I know I can, I can contribute and help here. I felt like staying here was what they wanted and I’m happy to be a contributor here.”
Staal has come a long way from when he arrived in Florida and it is an example which has inspired the rest of the group.
The Panthers gave Staal — who was a year removed from NHL hockey at that point — a shot to prove himself on a professional tryout after singing his brother, Marc, on the first day of free agency.
It took an injury to Aaron Ekblad early in the season for them to be able to fit him under the salary cap but he made the team after impressing in training camp and he has proven them right ever since.
“He built it,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said.
”He came in and worked his ass off every day so he is in far better game shape. He wasn’t out of shape, you just have to play the game right.”
The work he put in to get himself in game shape helped push him over the edge when it came time for Zito to reduce the Panthers’ roster back to 20 when Ekblad was ready to come back.
He made that final cut over Rudolfs Balcers and has stuck in the lineup ever since.
“I really felt that if I was in that position, it would take me a lot longer to get back into it than it took him,” Matthew Tkachuk said.
”He obviously put a ton of work in during the summer to get ready and had a great camp, then for the first couple of weeks of the year, he wasn’t with us and then when he signed with us it was awesome.”
It took Staal a while to get going offensively — he did not register his first point until Dec. 1 — but in the meantime, Maurice found a home for him on the penalty kill and he became an anchor for them next to Eetu Luostarinen.
It was a role he was not unfamiliar with over the course of his Hall of Fame career but he sank his teeth into it and used the built up intellect he built up from nearly 20 years in the NHL.
“When players get older, we work really hard at finding their deficiencies,” Maurice said. “So, he’s not the fastest.VWhen Eric was in his prime, he was incredibly fast. He could get up and down the ice. It’s a long, powerful stride and he slowed down but his brain is no slower and his hands are good.
”He makes plays out there. He’s still a shooter. When he gets the puck, there’s an awful lot he can offer.”
The points came in bunches after he got the first one out of the way to start December — Staal finished the month with eight points in 14 games — and he continued to be a reliable presence in their lineup ever since.
”It’s been a build up and I think that’s pretty evident,” Staal said.
”I would’ve loved it if I hit the ground running right at the beginning of the season but it progressively got better and for me, individually, I feel really comfortable and confident in my game and what I can bring right now.”
Florida has faced a lot of injuries down the middle and Staal has often stepped up to take the brunt of those minutes.
And he’s done a solid job when he’s been asked to.
”He’s just a real dedicated guy and he is kind of laying everything o the line for us right now,” Tkachuk said.
”His leadership and what he is doing right now, the whole group can see it. Nobody else sees what he’s seen in this room and it’s very important for us and it shows how we have to compete, how we have to prepare and what you have to play through to be successful.”
PANTHERS ON DECK
VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS AT FLORIDA PANTHERS
- When: Tuesday, 7 p.m.
- Where: FLA Live Arena, Sunrise
- TV/Streaming: Bally Sports Florida; ESPN+
- Radio: WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
- Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932
- This season (Vegas leads 1-0): Golden Knights 4, Panthers 2 (Jan. 12)
- Last season: Split 1-1
- All-time regular season series: Vegas leads 6-2-1
- Up Next for the Panthers: Friday vs. Chicago. 7 p.m.