Jun 23 2012

Brothers In Arms & Hockey Sticks

You can look at it as a younger brother wanting to play with his older brother and does that still happen in their 20s or you can look at it as a rare opportunity of brother playing in highest level of their favoured sport in the same team.

Two of the Staal brothers are being reunited in Carolina. The Pittsburgh Penguins traded centre Jordan Staal to the Hurricanes on Friday for centre Brandon Sutter, the No. 8 pick in 2012 draft and defenceman Brian Dumoulin. Pittsburgh then selected defenceman Derrick Pouliot of the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks with the first-round pick. Eric, the eldest of 4 hockey playing brothers, is captain of the Hurricanes.

“Jordan is an elite two-way player who possesses a rare combination of speed, size, scoring ability and defensive responsibility,” said Carolina general manager Jim Rutherford in a statement. “For his young age, he has a wealth of NHL experience, including winning the Stanley Cup with Pittsburgh in 2009. “And he is obviously a natural fit for our team in joining our captain, his older brother Eric.”

Jordan Staal has 120 goals and 128 assists in 431 regular-season games with Pittsburgh. He has a career plus-53 rating. The Penguins selected Staal in the first round, second overall, in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft. “He’s still only 24 years old. He’s got upside yet,” Rutherford told the Canadian Press. “I think it’s a great fit.”

In another trade during the NHL draft the Dallas Stars have traded forward Mike Ribeiro to the Washington Capitals for forward Cody Eakinand a second-round pick (54th overall) in the 2012 NHL Draft. The 32-year-old Ribeiro had 18 goals and 45 assists in 74 games last season.