NHL Approves Contract Of Eric Staal After Contract Language Issue

The NHL on Friday approved the amended contract of Carolina Hurricanes All-Star center Eric Staal, the team announced.

On Monday, the league rejected the seven-year extension worth $57.75 million Staal signed on September 11.

The league had initially asked the Hurricanes to make a slight adjustment to the contract’s verbiage and re-submit it for approval.

The contract, which begins with the 2009-10 season and extends through the 2015-16 campaign, will provide Staal an average yearly salary of $8.25 million.

Staal would have been eligible for free agency on July 1,2010. He will make $5 million this season, the last of a three-year deal he signed in 2006.

One of the game’s top young players, the 23-year-old Staal registered 38 goals and 82 points in 82 games last season.

Staal was a driving force behind the Hurricanes’ Stanley Cup championship team in 2005-06, when the Thunder Bay, Ontario native led all playoff scorers with 28 points (nine goals, 19 assists). The 6-4, 204-pounder finished that regular season with career highs in goals (45), assists (55) and points (100).

Selected second overall in the 2003 draft, Staal has collected 124 goals and 283 points in 327 career games.