What It Means:

Staal, the second overall pick in 2003, leaves Carolina with his name all over their record books. He's third in games played (909), second in goals (322), second assists (453) and second in points (775). He also joins New York amid his worst season since his rookie campaign, posting just 10 goals, 33 points and a 6.3 shooting percentage over 63 games. However, he's potted points in four of his past five games, so there are more than a few reasons to be optimistic for Rangers fans. Carolina, meanwhile will retain half of Staal's remaining cap hit and have reached the maximum three players (Tuomo Ruutu, Jay Harrison) with which they can do so.

While Staal's points are down, his possession numbers are superb, as usual. He owns a 57.0 Corsi For Percentage and 6.4 Relative Corsi For Percentage at Event Strength. Both clips are down from last season's numbers but still well above his career averages. We project Staal to record five more goals and seven more assists over the final 19 games.