Report: Penguins interested in re-acquiring Jordan Staal

The Pittsburgh Penguins apparently want their Staal back.

The Penguins are interested in re-acquiring Jordan Staal after dealing him to the Carolina Hurricanes in 2012, according to a report by Josh Yohe of the Pittsburgh Tribune. Staal has a full no-trade clause, but he would apparently waive it to be reunited with the team that drafted him.

Any potential deal is likely to occur in the offseason because the Penguins are not financially positioned to absorb Staal's $6 million cap hit without some major maneuvering.

Staal went to the Hurricanes to play with his older brother Eric Staal, but Eric's name is also floating around in trade rumors as the final season of his contract approaches.

Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford, who was the general manager of the Hurricanes and traded for Staal in Carolina, said a few days ago:

I don't agree with the people who suggest that Jordan Staal was a bad trade, because in my mind, it was a good trade for both teams.

(Staal is)a big piece that the Penguins have missed, since that trade. As good a player as Brandon Sutter is and the two young defensemen coming, Jordan Staal is badly missed here.

In Carolina, he plays over 20 minutes and I know Ronnie (Francis, who succeeded Rutherford as GM there) tells me he gets lots of calls on him. That was a deal that was probably pretty good for both teams.

Jordan played his first six seasons in Pittsburgh, recording 248 points in 431 games and winning a Stanley Cup in 2009.