Staal's Minnesota roots about to get much deeper

WINNIPEG --One of the best bargains in the history of NHL free agency is sticking around for a couple more seasons.
The Wild and Eric Staal
agreed to terms
on a two-year contract extension on Monday that will keep the veteran centerman in Minnesota through the 2020-21 season.
"Ever since I first came to Minnesota, it just felt like the right place for me," Staal said. "It's just been a great transition for me as a hockey player and as a family. I feel like I've kind of become one of the Minnesotans, and it's a place where we wanted to be."

Staal was coming off perhaps the most trying season of his NHL career in the summer of 2016, having scored just 13 goals and 39 points in 83 games with the Carolina Hurricanes and New York Rangers.
His three-year, $10.5 million contract with Minnesota barely garnered a headline outside the State of Hockey. Some believed Staal's prior season was a sign that he had little left in the tank.
All he's done in the 2 1/2 years since is prove to be one of the savviest summer additions since the advent of unrestricted free agency.
Staal scored 28 goals and 65 points in his first season with the Wild, then followed it up with one of the finest seasons of his career, scoring 42 goals and 76 points last season while being named to his fourth career NHL All-Star Game.

Despite the distraction of entering the final year of his contract and with his name popping up on almost every trade watch list over the past couple of weeks, Staal is still on pace for yet another 25-goal, 50-plus point season.
With the pressure of the deadline now in the past and with his immediate future in Minnesota assured, Staal said he's anxious to get back to focusing on playing his best hockey and helping the Wild make a run toward a seventh consecutive postseason berth.
"There was a lot of uncertainty and a lot of chatter, I think now, to have that put to bed and to just play, it's a good feeling," Staal said. "Personally, sometimes, I probably had too many thoughts [on being traded]; with family and your future, you're always thinking about things. Now, you just forget about it, relax, enjoy and play. That's what I'm gonna try to do tomorrow and have some fun doing it."

The no-frills, low-maintenance veteran is a favorite of Wild coach Bruce Boudreau, who has said in the past he appreciates Staal's professionalism and his willingness to skate on any line and with any linemates.
A captain with the Hurricanes for six seasons, Staal is an instrumental leader inside the WIld's dressing room, one that has gotten significantly younger over the past week. Gone are veterans Charlie Coyle and Mikael Granlund, traded ahead of Monday's NHL Trade Deadline, and in are young forwards Ryan Donato and Kevin Fiala, both just 22 years old.
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Staal says he relishes the opportunity to be a continued part of the Wild's veteran core over the next two seasons and to serve as a leader for the team's new young talent.
"There's some exciting new blood, new players that are going to help us," Staal said. "For me, as an older player who's been around, trying to be an example and show up every day to be an example and do the right things."
A big part of remaining with the Wild was the roots put down by him and his wife, Tanya, as well as their three sons, Parker (9), Levi (7) and Finley (4). All three boys play youth hockey in the area and have adjusted beautifully to their lives in pucks-crazed Minnesota.

"At this point in my career, there's definitely a lot of different factors that go into decision-making," Staal said. "It's not just me, selfishly, making up my mind on what I want to do. I think, first and foremost, it's been a great transition for my family, for my kids and for my wife.
"But it's a great hockey place; there's no better place, in my opinion, to play hockey. Everyone loves it, it's talked about all the time, there's outdoor rinks everywhere. Everyone my kids' age group and the friends that we know all play the game. You love to play in that environment. It's fun and exciting every day, and there's no reason why I wouldn't want to stay."
Related:
- Wild, Staal agree on two-year contract extension - Recapping the Wild's NHL Trade Deadline activities - Fenton continues youth movement in deal to acquire Fiala