Mark Staal Follows Brother's Lead And Retires, Already Has A New Gig

Here's a quick advanced stat for you: when the puck drops to start the 2024-25 season, there will be 66.66% fewer Staals on NHL rosters than there were as recently as two years ago.

According to NHL.com, on Thursday, it was announced that NHL D-man Mark Staal is hanging up his skates after 17 seasons in the National Hockey League. 

However, while his playing days are behind him, Staal jumped right into the next chapter of his career and will become a player development assistant for the New York Rangers the team with which he spent the bulk of his career.

His decision comes a little over a month after his older brother, Eric, announced that he was signing a one-day contract with the Carolina Hurricanes to retire as a member of that club.

Staal played for the Rangers from 2007-08 to 2020-21 and made an appearance in the 2014 Stanley Cup Final, a losing effort against the Los Angeles Kings.

Mark Staal is calling it a career as a player, but he's moving straight into coaching. (Photo by Darcy Finley/NHLI via Getty Images)

He was then dealt to a rebuilding Detroit Red Wings team for the 2020-21 season but ended up signing with the Florida Panthers in 2022-23 which was a great call. That squad upset the Boston Bruins — a team that had one of the best regular seasons in hockey history — and made it to the Stanley Cup Final. Unfortunately, Staal was on the losing side of his second Cup Final appearance as well.

The 37-year-old spent the final year of his playing career as a member of the Philadelphia Flyers. He appeared in 35 games last season and registered only 5 points, but was a solid defender and was reported to be a strong veteran presence in the young Flyers locker room (he also brought an all-star beard and flow combo).

So, this means there's now only one Staal brother left in the NHL and that's Eric and Mark's younger brother, Jordan, the captain of the Carolina Hurricanes.