Marc Staal Announces Retirement, Joins NYR in Development Role
After a 17-year playing career that included 13 seasons with the New York Rangers, the long-time defenseman for the Blueshirts has announced his retirement.
Congratulations Marc on a great career! Thrilled to have you back and looking forward to your next chapter as #NYR Player Development Assistant. pic.twitter.com/8nv5SnlyIH
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) September 5, 2024
Additionally, Staal will be rejoining the organization as the team has announced he will transition into a Player Development Assistant. As mentioned below by Larry Brooks of the NY Post, it appears that Staal will work specifically with defense prospects both with the Hartford Wolf Pack and the organization as a whole.
Rangers have hired Marc Staal as development coach, were told by industry sources. Will work with D prospects at Hartford and throughout organization.
— Larry Brooks (@NYP_Brooksie) September 5, 2024
Staal was selected by the Rangers 12th overall in the 2005 entry draft and saw the Rangers through the dark ages of the mid-00s all the way through to the beginning of the rebuild. Outside of Chris Kreider and Henrik Lundqvist, Staal was one of the longest tenured Rangers throughout that era which included trips to both the Conference Final as well as the Stanley Cup Final. Staal finished his career with 1,136 games played, 53 goals, 181 assists for a total of 234 points. After his time in New York, he went on to spend two seasons in Detroit as well as a year in Florida and Philadelphia.
Staal has had a fantastic career and has been a part of many fond memories for a great deal of Rangers fans. Wishing him all the best in his new role with the team as well as retirement!
