Eric and Marc Staal spend their first Christmas together as Florida Panthers

Sunrise When Eric Staal had a professional tryout with the Florida Panthers during training camp, he was bunking with younger brother Marc and his family at their new house in Fort Lauderdale.

It was good for me, Marc said, because when we got back from practice, my kids got to jump on him and bother Uncle Eric instead of wearing me out. It was a nice shortening for me.

It lasted a couple of weeks into the season, but when Eric got a one-year deal from the Panthers, he moved out of the Marcs’ guest room and brought his family into town.

Eric Staal and his family now have their own place a few minutes away.

The kids are at school and it’s been great, Eric Staal said. This is a great place to be, the people have been great. It’s just different going to school in shorts and t-shirts instead of snowsuits every day.

The Panthers’ two Staal brothers live near each other, and while some of their family gathers in North Carolina, where Jordan plays for the Hurricanes, they’ll spend their first Christmas as NHL teammates together near the beach.

Eric and Marcs parents join them as they drive from their place in Naples.

Give the gift of daily Florida Panthers coverage:

Subscribe to Florida Hockey now!

Because of the cold, it won’t be a traditional South Florida Christmas, but it’s still better than the alternative.

We get together as much as we can, Eric Staal said. It’s nice to be able to be a family together, and the fact that I get to be here for those three days is great. I’ve learned over the years when you take days off, take a deep breath and relax. Because when we come back, its full force. I’m going to be on the coach and enjoy my family.

Eric and Marc Staal have been teammates once before in the NHL and finished the 2105-16 season together when Eric was traded from Carolina to the Rangers.

When the season ended, Marc stayed in New York and Eric ended up signing a new contract with the Minnesota Wild.

Although the family has spent vacations and summers together over the years, this time Marc and Eric aren’t doing much catching up.

It’s been nice to ride with him to the rink, talk about games or what’s coming up next in practice, Marc said. It’s been fun being with him.

As Panthers teammates, they have been able to stay very close.

That includes their family.

Eric Staal said one of the nicest aspects of this Sunrise situation has been how close his kids and Marcs’ kids have gotten to spend the hockey season together.

Marc Staal agreed.

It’s been fun getting them here, Marc said. Seeing him only every few months has become normal. Not that it stopped, but it was weird when it started. It’s great that our family is together, cousins ​​together all the time. That’s really cool.

Both players are in Florida on one-year deals and the way this season goes, who knows what the future holds.

With major salary cap concerns, the Panthers have played much of this season with just 20 players on their active roster.

This has meant that 38-year-old Eric Staal has been forced to play every night since he did not play in the NHL last season.

With Sasha Barkov out for extended periods this month, the Panthers have had to change things up and Eric has gone from centering Florida’s fourth line to managing the third line.

The increased minutes and role have been reflected in his production.

Eric Staal went scoreless in his first 16 games with the Panthers and has three goals and eight points in his last 12.

Eric Staal is averaging more than 17 minutes a game in December after getting about 12 minutes a night in October and November.

“Obviously things have gone a little differently with all the injuries and movement this first half so far,” Eric said when asked if he expected to play every game with the Panthers after the October deal.

Regardless, it’s been a joy to be out there competing and playing with my brother every night. We will improve as a team here this break and hopefully we will have a big second half as a team.

Your playing time is out of your control, but you come here to work and compete every day. You want to perform. The coaches and management make the decisions. But if I didn’t expect to be in the lineup every night, I don’t think I would have lasted this long in the league. That’s the right mindset. We have a lot of great players, a lot of talent. But we’ve had a lot of injuries and playing more has helped my games.

You can play a profitable game in the fourth row for nine minutes, but still only nine minutes. I’ve been hit a little more and I feel like my game has picked up and I feel like more of my old self. When we get healthy, it’s not only good for me, it’s good for the team.

Marc Staal will probably play more than expected after agreeing to a one-year deal with Florida in July and Eric accepting Florida’s PTO offer from Bill Zito at the same time.

At the time, Florida still had MacKenzie Weegar on the team, and it was expected that the Panthers would carry seven defensemen all season, with Staal likely rotating with Matt Kiersted or Lucas Carlsson as a 6-7 team.

In Florida, cap limitations sidelined this, as the team only had six running backs for most of the year.

Marc Staal has played in 35 games so far and is averaging 18:12, up about a minute from last season in Detroit, but close to his average over the past six years with the Rangers and Red Wings.

He has moved through the lines, playing some nights at third and some up.

Marc Staal has played on all three lines in one match.

It’s been such a year at Sunrise.

It took about 10 or 15 games to adjust because we have a lot of new guys here, myself included, Marc said. I think over the last month I’ve felt more comfortable out there and felt better about my own game and trying to help this team in any way I can. I believe I can continue to improve as everyone here can. We need to start compounding the gains.

Maybe the winning streak is under the tree today.

The Panthers could sure use one.

PANTHERS ON THE STAND

MONTREAL CANADIENS AT FLORIDA PANTHERS

• When:Thursday, 7 p.m
• Where: FLA Live Arena, Sunrise
• TV/Streaming:Bally Sports Florida, ESPN+
• Radio:WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Live Stream: SiriusXM 932
• Last season:Florida won 3-1
• All-regular timeseasonseries:Florida leads 51-38-11, 6 ties
• Next up for the Panthers: Dec. 30 at Carolina Hurricanes, 7:30 p.m