Staal looking for an extended stay in the Big Apple

By Aaron Bell

Marc Staal feels like he’s ready to make the step to the next level and judging by his performance so far at the New York Rangers training camp, he may be right.

Staal was the Ranger’s first round pick in 2005 and was a dominant force on the Sudbury Wolves blueline last season. He took his game to a new level at Christmas when he helped Canada win the World Junior Championships in Vancouver. Staal effectively shut down Russian star Evgeni Malkin and was named top defenceman at the tournament. He made a statement then that he may be ready to play in the NHL as an underager.

“He’s as sure thing a prospect as we have in our organization,” Don Maloney, Rangers’ VP of player personnel and assistant general manager. “He does so many of the little things in the game well, that poise that he plays with, the puck movement, his presence on the ice. If he needs to be physical, he can be physical.”

If Staal doesn’t make the Rangers lineup, he will return to Sudbury for a final junior season.

“I want to just have a really solid training camp,” Staal said. “I want to come in here and make them put me on the team and just try to play as best I can to try and stay here. I know a lot of fans are rooting for me, and are expecting me to be up here, so I am going to do my best to make it hard for the coaching staff to send me back to Sudbury.”

Maloney admits that while Staal’s talent and maturity are exceptional, it’s still a difficult task for a teenager to play defence in the National Hockey League.

“We’re going to be very, very cautious,” says Maloney. “The last thing we want is for Marc to turn pro, be in New York and not play. If we can be sure he’ll play nine of every 10 games, then he’ll play. If not, then I think that we really have to think long-term because if you start slotting a guy in, then he doesn’t get the power play time, he doesn’t get the penalty kill time, he doesn’t get those important minutes at ends of periods, the time a guy that is going to be a core player needs to have.”

If Staal returns to the OHL, he will also have a chance to go for another gold medal with the National Junior Team at Christmas. It’s likely that his younger brother Jordan of the Peterborough Petes will be on the team as well.

Rangers’ coach Tom Renney spent several years in the National Team program and understands how much it means to the development of young players. He is looking forward to seeing the young defenceman in his lineup.

“Marc is very business like,” Renney said. “He’s always in good position and he doesn’t get rattled. He’s got good transition skills in that he can step up from backing out and make a very good pass. He follows the play up well. This is a guy who once he starts to play in the NHL he’ll be there for a long time.”

Photo: Dan Hamilton/Vantage Point