Vet makes Ranger Marc
MARC Staal’s season began with a threat to his roster spot by Alain Vigneault on the first day of training camp. It ends with him having bounced back with a better season and serving as the lone veteran among a group of pups on the back end.
In between, the Rangers decided a rebuild was necessary, so Staal’s future will again be in question as Jeff Gorton plots his next moves this offseason. But what the 31-year-old, 11th-year Ranger proved this season is that he’s got plenty more left to give.
“Regardless of what happened, I knew I was gonna be in the NHL somewhere. I know that,” Staal told the Daily News recently regarding Vigneault’s preseason comments that Staal had to compete for a spot on the team. “I believe in myself that I can play this game at a high level and I think I’ve shown that for a large part of this year.
“Throughout your career you’re gonna have things said about you. Obviously being in one place for so long, you get those types of questions and rumors and things about you as you go. You’ve just got to deal with it, and what I’ve learned is if you play hard and play consistent, those things start to go away. And if they don’t, you go somewhere else and do it all over again with a different team.”
Staal hasn’t thought much about his future, feeling there’s no sense in worrying about it until the summer. Last offseason the Rangers bought out the final three year’s of Dan Girardi’s contract, freeing up some cap space but also adding dead money to their cap for six seasons. Staal has three years remaining on his contract with an annual $5.7 million cap hit. The Rangers are getting younger but can’t and won’t be devoid of veterans next season. Since the trade deadline, with Kevin Shattenkirk injured, Staal has been the only healthy Rangers’ defenseman older than 25. “I really like what he’s bringing to the table,” Vigneault said. “You need some veteran presence in your lineup for example for some of the younger players, and on ‘D’ right now he’s really fulfilling that role. Not only has he played well, but he’s a good voice for the younger guys to hear. He’s been very upbeat, very positive, and I really like his demeanor.” The most difficult part of what has been a lost season for the Rangers, Staal says, will be watching the first round of the playoffs next week on television for just the second time in his career. It was about 11 months ago during the second round against Ottawa when Staal was talking about not taking playoff runs for granted the more he plays, knowing chances won’t always be there. “You’re gonna be sitting on your couch watching guys face off and you’re gonna get that feeling — you’re not gonna get that feeling of being out there and being able to compete in the playoffs,” Staal said. “That’s the best part of the year. That’s gonna be the hard part.” Time will tell if he’ll get back to the postseason with the Rangers, the team that drafted him No. 12 overall 13 years ago when he was just 18. Enough familiar faces remain in the organization that he still considers it his second family. “I t d e f i - nitely is like home,” Staal says. “I’ve been fortunate, for sure. Not a lot of guys can say that. Very lucky.”