Hurricanes sign Jordan Staal to one-year extension

The Carolina Hurricanes have agreed to terms on a one-year contract extension with team captain Jordan Staal, the club announced Tuesday evening.

Staal, 38, could earn up to $10 million on his new one-year deal, which covers the 2027-28 season. The contract includes a $900,000 base salary, a $4 million signing bonus, and up to $5.1 million in performance bonuses.

The reigning Conn Smythe Trophy winner as NHL playoff MVP, Staal has one year remaining on his current contract, which carries a $2.975 million cap hit through the end of the 2026-27 season. The 6’4″ center scored 20 goals and 36 points in 75 games with the Hurricanes during the 2025-26 regular season; he added eight goals and 12 points in 19 playoff games to help Carolina capture its second Stanley Cup championship in club history.

“Jordan is not only our captain, he’s the bedrock of the culture we’ve established in this organization,” Hurricanes general manager Eric Tulsky said in a statement on Tuesday. “His leadership and on-ice performance throughout last season and especially in the playoffs was a primary factor in bringing the Stanley Cup back to Raleigh.”

Staal has spent the past 14 seasons with the Hurricanes, playing a leading role in the team ending one of the longest playoff droughts in recent NHL history before transforming into a perennial championship contender. The Thunder Bay, Ont. product has served as Carolina’s captain on a full-time basis since 2019, following in the footsteps of his older brother, Eric, who wore the “C” for the team from 2009 to 2016.

The Pittsburgh Penguins originally selected Staal with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2006 NHL Draft (the same year Eric led Carolina to its first Stanley Cup). A standout with the OHL’s Peterborough Petes, Staal spent the first six seasons of his NHL career in Pittsburgh, helping the team reach the Stanley Cup Final in 2008 before winning it all in 2009.

Staal recorded his first — and, to date, only — 50-point season with the Penguins in 2011-12 before being traded to the Hurricanes the following summer; in return, Pittsburgh received Brandon Sutter, Brian Dumoulin, and a 2012 first-round pick (used to select Derrick Pouliot). The Hurricanes briefly united three of the four Staal brothers in the 2012-13 season, with Jared Staal playing the only two NHL games of his career alongside Jordan and Eric.

After the Hurricanes traded Eric to the New York Rangers in the 2015-16 season, Staal — who has consistently worn a letter on his jersey since his third year in Pittsburgh — assumed an even greater leadership role with the club. After helping Carolina to the Eastern Conference Final in 2019, Staal finally replaced Justin Williams as the team’s full-time captain for the 2019-20 season; the Hurricanes have won at least one playoff series in each year of Staal’s captaincy.

In 1,403 career NHL games over 20 seasons split between the Penguins and Hurricanes, Staal has collected 318 goals, 747 points, and 644 penalty minutes. He’s added 46 goals and 85 points in 181 playoff games.