The fourth Staal brother

The first three Staal brothers all went in the first half of the first round — Eric second in 2003, Marc 12th in 2005 and Jordan second in 2006 — but the youngest, Jared, could have a longer wait.

There’s no guarantee Jared Staal will get picked in the first round tonight, which would deny the Staal family a spot in hockey history. Only the Sutter family has had four brothers taken in the first round.

The NHL’s Central Scouting Service ranks Staal 43rd among North American skaters. The Hockey News ranks him 31st overall, TSN has him 50th and the Red Line Report rates him 114th.

While he may move up in the draft based on his name alone, there’s an outside chance Staal could be available when the Hurricanes come up in the second round, 45th overall. That could make for an interesting discussion at the draft table.