StaTuesday: Staal’s contract gets better with every goal
Ryan Suter and Zach Parise are the most significant signings in the Minnesota Wild's 18-year history. The duo arrived in 2012, signing matching 13-year, $98 million contracts. The Wild haven't missed the playoffs since.
But when it comes to bang for your buck, veteran forward Eric Staal might be general manager Chuck Fletcher's craftiest acquisition.
Staal snapped a two-game scoring drought Sunday, scoring his 34th goal of the season. He leads the Wild in scoring with 65 points in 66 games, 10 more than second-place Mikael Granlund.
He's just the fifth 30-goal scorer in franchise history, and is on pace to challenge Marian Gaborik's franchise record of 42 goals, set in 2008.
It's remarkable production for a center approaching his mid-30s.
Joe Sakic -- then 37 -- was the last center to score at least 35 goals in a single season after turning 33, scoring 36 during the 2006-07 season. Sergei Fedorov (2002-03) and Mario Lemieux (2000-01) are the only other centers to do so in the 2000s.
And he's doing it all on the cheap after signing a three-year, $10.5 million contract with the Wild in 2016.
Staal is one of just six 30-goal scorers who will cost less than $5 million against the cap this season, and one of a handful of players on that list whose current cost/production could truly be categorized as the result of shrewd management.
| Player | Team | Age | AAV | G | A | P |
| Alex Ovechkin | Capitals | 32 | $9.53M | 40 | 32 | 72 |
| Evgeni Malkin | Penguins | 31 | $9.50M | 37 | 45 | 82 |
| Tyler Seguin | Stars | 26 | $5.75M | 36 | 26 | 62 |
| Patrik Laine | Jets | 19 | $0.925M | 35 | 23 | 58 |
| William Karlsson | Golden Knights | 25 | $1.00M | 35 | 24 | 59 |
| Eric Staal | Wild | 33 | $3.50M | 34 | 31 | 65 |
| Nikita Kucherov | Lightning | 24 | $4.76M | 33 | 52 | 85 |
| Anders Lee | Islanders | 27 | $3.75M | 31 | 20 | 51 |
| John Tavares | Islanders | 27 | $5.50M | 31 | 36 | 67 |
| Nathan MacKinnon | Avalanche | 22 | $6.30M | 31 | 46 | 77 |
| Taylor Hall | Devils | 26 | $6.00M | 30 | 42 | 72 |
| Connor McDavid | Avalanche | 21 | $0.925M | 30 | 50 | 80 |
Of the six, Staal is the only one to sign with his current team as a free agent. Hall arrived in New Jersey via trade (a deal that seems somehow more lopsided now than it did in 2016). Lee has spent his entire career with the Islanders, and is in the third year of a four-year, $15 million extension. Vegas nabbed Karlsson from the Columbus Blue Jackets in the expansion draft.
McDavid and Laine were top picks and are still on their rookie deals, which are capped at $925,000 in base salary. It's also worth noting that while McDavid is budget friendly now, he signed an eight-year, $100 million extension over the summer worth $12.5 million annually.
With Staal -- the oldest player on the list at 33 -- on pace for highs in points, goals and assists not seen since his prime, it's fair to wonder what changed, and whether or not he'll be able to duplicate that success in 2019, or again in 2020 once his current deal is up.
A perennial 20-goal scorer in Carolina, Staal's reputation took a hit following a disastrous trade to the New York Rangers in 2016, when he scored just four goals and four assists in 20 games. His salary dropped from $8.25 million per season to $3.5 million with a modified no-trade clause as a result.
Staal has had an unusually high shooting percentage this season -- a career-high 18.7 percent in all situations, second amongst 30-goal scorers -- compared to his career average of just 10.6 percent. He last shot better than 15 percent back in 2005-06, when he shot 16.1 percent, and set career highs with 100 points, 55 assists and 45 goals.
| Player | Team | S% | S% (5v5) | G | A | P |
| William Karlsson | Golden Knights | 23.5 | 24.0 | 35 | 24 | 59 |
| Evgeni Malkin | Penguins | 18.7 | 15.8 | 37 | 45 | 82 |
| Eric Staal | Wild | 18.7 | 13.1 | 34 | 31 | 65 |
| Patrik Laine | Jets | 18.6 | 14.6 | 35 | 23 | 58 |
| Anders Lee | Islanders | 18.2 | 17.9 | 31 | 20 | 51 |
| John Tavares | Islanders | 15.1 | 13.5 | 31 | 36 | 67 |
| Nathan MacKinnon | Avalanche | 14.5 | 12.0 | 31 | 46 | 77 |
| Nikita Kucherov | Lightning | 14.4 | 16.0 | 33 | 52 | 85 |
| Alex Ovechkin | Capitals | 14.3 | 13.7 | 40 | 32 | 72 |
| Connor McDavid | Avalanche | 13.6 | 12.7 | 30 | 50 | 80 |
| Tyler Seguin | Stars | 13.5 | 9.9 | 36 | 26 | 62 |
| Taylor Hall | Devils | 13.2 | 11.1 | 30 | 42 | 72 |
For now, however, the Wild are sitting on a cheap soon-to-be 40-goal scorer, one who remains under team control at a bargain-bin price next season.
