The Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy is awarded annually by the PHWA to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to ice hockey. A player from each NHL team is nominated by the local chapter of the PHWA. Staal was previously named one of three finalists for the award during the 2017-18 season.
Staal, 32, has earned 38 points (16g, 22a) in 53 games with the Hurricanes this season, marking his highest point total since 2017-18. He ranks fourth on the team in goals, including a career-high seven on the power play, and ranks sixth in assists and points. His four multi-goal games and five multi-assist games this season rank tied for first and tied for second on the team, respectively. The 6'4", 220-pound center also ranks sixth in the NHL with a 58.0% faceoff win percentage (min. 1,000 faceoffs), winning more than 55% of his draws for the sixth time in the last seven seasons (2014-21). Staal also leads the team with 135 hits in 2020-21, and he has helped Carolina's penalty kill to its second-highest percentage in any season in franchise history (85.5%). He skated in his 1,000th career NHL game against Detroit on April 12.
The Thunder Bay, Ont., native has registered 327 points (121g, 206a) in 583 games with Carolina since joining the team in 2012-13, and ranks eighth in points, ninth in goals, fifth in assists and fifth in games played in team history (since relocation). Staal has recorded 575 points (241g, 334a) in 1,014 career NHL games with Pittsburgh and Carolina and won the Stanley Cup with the Penguins in 2009. He was drafted by Pittsburgh in the first round, second overall, of the 2006 NHL Draft, and acquired by Carolina on June 22, 2012, in exchange for Brandon Sutter, Brian Dumoulin and a first-round pick in the 2012 NHL Draft (Derrick Pouliot).
