Marc Staal

Marc Staal (born January 13, 1987) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who is currently playing for the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League (NHL).

He has played over 1,000 regular season games and was previously a member of the New York Rangers, Detroit Red Wings, and Florida Panthers.

He is the second oldest of the Staal brothers to play in the NHL.

Of the four brothers, Marc is the only defenceman and only one who has never played for the Carolina Hurricanes.

Staal grew up playing minor hockey in his hometown of Thunder Bay, Ontario, and was a minor hockey teammate of future NHLers Tom Pyatt, Ryan Parent and Taylor Chorney with the Thunder Bay Kings AAA program.

Staal was selected second overall in the 2003 Ontario Hockey League (OHL) Priority Selection by the Sudbury Wolves after a solid season with the Minor Midget Kings.

Staal played junior hockey from 2003 to 2007 for the Sudbury Wolves in the OHL, where he was the team's captain, and led the Wolves to their first trip to the OHL finals in 30 years.

He was drafted by the New York Rangers in 2005 NHL Entry Draft in the first round, 12th pick overall.

Staal played for Team Canada in the 2006 and 2007 IIHF World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, bringing home gold medals both times.

He was named the tournament's top defenceman in the 2006 Championships.

Marc and younger brother Jared played together in Sudbury during 2006–07 season.

On May 7, 2007, the OHL announced that Staal was the recipient of the Max Kaminsky Trophy as the OHL's Most Outstanding Defenceman for the 2006–07 season.

This prestigious award was previously won by future NHL players Chris Pronger, Al MacInnis and Denis Potvin.

On May 13, 2007, although his Sudbury team lost the OHL Championship Series to the Plymouth Whalers in six games, Staal was named the winner of the Wayne Gretzky 99 Award, which goes to the League's post-season most valuable player (MVP).

The Sudbury Wolves retired Staal's jersey (#14) on February 3, 2023.

On October 4, 2007, Staal made his National Hockey League debut for the New York Rangers, as well as for Head Coach Tom Renney, who would use him in that first season primarily in a defensive role.

Staal would record his first NHL point against the Washington Capitals on November 1, 2007, when Chris Drury deflected his shot in for a goal, earning Staal an assist.

Staal scored his first NHL goal on November 14, 2007, against the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center.

His wrist shot from the left faceoff circle sailed over the outstretched glove of goaltender Martin Brodeur and deflected in off the crossbar.

Assisting on his first goal in the NHL were teammates Scott Gomez and Brendan Shanahan.

During 2007–08, Staal was one of 16 rookies selected to participate in the YoungStars competition at the 2008 NHL All-Star Game in Atlanta, where he scored a goal and added an assist.

Staal finished his rookie season with ten points on the strength of two goals and eight assists; he also established himself as a reliable defender, posting a positive plus/minus rating at +2, as the Rangers qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs.

He saved his best for the playoffs, with his first NHL playoff goal and two assists to help the Rangers defeat the Devils in five games during the Eastern Conference Quarter-finals.

The goal was important — in the pivotal Game 4, Staal's slapper broke a 3–3 deadlock late in the third period and stood to be the game-winning goal in a 5–3 victory that gave the Rangers a 3–1 lead in the series.

Like his first regular season goal, it also came against Martin Brodeur.

However, despite their win over the Devils in the Conference Quarter-finals, the Rangers would fall to his younger brother Jordan's team, the eventual Stanley Cup runner-up Pittsburgh Penguins, in the Eastern Conference Semi-finals.

In 2008–09, Staal improved his offensive output to 15 points, scoring three goals and adding 12 assists, all career highs at the time.

He returned to the YoungStars Competition as a sophomore at the 2009 NHL All-Star Game in Montreal, and scored two goals.

Late in the season, a coaching change led to a more offensive philosophy designed to propel the Rangers into the playoffs.

The defensive-minded Tom Renney was replaced by John Tortorella, who encouraged more offence from all of his players, including Staal.

As a result, much of Staal's production came toward the end of the season; 6 of his 15 points came after the coaching change, in just 21 games (as opposed to nine in 61 under Renney).

The Rangers would again qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs on the strength of their strong finish, but this time were defeated in the first round by the Washington Capitals in seven games after blowing a 3–1 series lead.

During the series, Staal would record his second career NHL playoff goal.

In the summer of 2009, Marc and his brothers Eric and Jordan were invited to try out for a Team Canada roster spot for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

However, when the team was named on December 30, 2009, Eric was the only Staal named to the squad.

In his third NHL season, Staal began to transition into more of a two-way role for the Rangers during 2009–10 as the development of his offence continued under John Tortorella.

Staal enjoyed the first four-game point streak of his career (one goal and three assists).

Though the Rangers would miss the playoffs for the first time in Staal's career, he would establish new career highs with eight goals, 19 assists, 27 points and a career-best +11 rating during the season.

He saved his finest for late in the year, scoring a beautiful, coast-to-coast goal against Florida Panthers goaltender Scott Clemmensen on April 3, 2010, after receiving the puck from teammate Henrik Lundqvist in the defensive zone.

While most NHL scouts had projected Staal to be a top-ten selection, he fell in the draft and the Rangers, seeing Staal available even after the 11th pick was made, made a draft day trade to move up; in exchange for the Atlanta Thrashers' 12th overall selection, which they obtained from the San Jose Sharks, the Rangers dealt the Thrashers both its 16th and 41st picks.