Taylor Hall Heads To Desert

Lets go back to the Summer of 2016. Thew New Jersey Devils had been struggling to try and find an identity. They hadn't had a solid franchise player in New Jersey in some time. Then Ray Shero pulls off a big trade with the Oilers, a lopsided one in fact, landing Taylor Hall in the East Coast. And it worked. Hall won a Hart Trophy as league MVP and pretty much carried the Devils into the playoff spot two years ago. Now here we sit, and Hall is no longer a Devil.

There's been a lot of speculation the deal was announced earlier today. The full trade is Taylor Hall and Blake Speers were sent to the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for Arizona's first-round pick in 2020, Arizona's third-round selection (conditional) in 2021, as well as prospects Kevin Bahl, Nick Merkley and Nate Schnarr. This is also the final year of Hall's deal, which is a $6 million cap hit. Half of that is being payed by the Devils.

How does this effect both teams?

For the Coyotes it gives them another high powered weapon to play with Phil Kessel, Clayton Keller and Oliver Ekman Larson. Oh and it's adding yet another layer to the Coyotes, who are tied for first in the Pacific with the Oilers and a point up on the Golden Knights. Adding a guy like Hall makes this Coyotes an even stronger offensive team. So this is huge for Arizona, who not only get a solid rental but could possibly lock up Hall long term depending on how well things go in the desert the rest of the season.

As for the Devils, they're a second to last place team in the Metro division, the only team worse than them is the Red Wings. This isn't a full blow rebuild in Jersey, they have strong pieces already in place. It's just a retooling of what they already have. Now, there is still a chance that Hall could sign back in New Jersey once the offseason hits. But, lets say that he doesn't. New Jersey is still in decent shape, at least by comparison to what Shero got when he took over in 2015. Sure, they gave up a stud defenseman in Adam Larson on the blueline, a move which still hurts the Devils, in terms of lack of defensive depth. But, with Hall gone, its not like the Devils don't have any pieces at all. They've got Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes, to serve as the foundation. They have talented young players in Jesper Bratt, Jesper Boqvist, Pavel Zacha, Mackenzie Blackwood and more.

The trade does sting the Devils, but they aren't totally crippled by the move. They can still build and possibly even bring him back. It could work out well long term for both sides