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Hurricanes Get Jordan Staal; Trade Brandon Sutter, No. 8 Pick And Brian Dumoulin To Pittsburgh

By Cory Lavalette
The Carolina Hurricanes acquired Jordan Staal — the second-youngest of four hockey-playing brothers — from the Penguins in a blockbuster trade at the NHL Draft in Pittsburgh. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
The Carolina Hurricanes acquired Jordan Staal — the second-youngest of four hockey-playing brothers — from the Penguins in a blockbuster trade at the NHL Draft in Pittsburgh. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
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Everyone said GM Jim Rutherford held all the cards in negotiations with Pittsburgh to try and acquire Jordan Staal. Based on what happened Friday night, that doesn't seem to be the case.

The Hurricanes gave up Brandon Sutter, the eighth overall pick and highly regarded defensive prospect Brian Dumoulin to get Staal, the brother of captain Eric. While Jordan Staal has one year remaining on his deal (at $4.5 million and a $4 million cap hit), he will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2012-13 season.

That being said, if any team was going to land Staal and be all-but-assured he would re-sign, it was the Hurricanes.

Staal has thrived the past six seasons in Pittsburgh. In 431 career games, he has 120 goals and 128 assists while establishing himself as one of the game's premier defensive forwards. To get Staal, the Hurricanes gave up Sutter — in his own right one of the game's emerging shutdown centers — and the chance to select one of several available impact players at No. 8. Toss in Dumoulin, a two-time NCAA champion at Boston College, and the Canes paid a hefty price for the NHL's third-oldest Staal brother.