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Taylor Hall

Latest On New Jersey’s Taylor Hall

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The New Jersey Devils have been concerned for quite a while that they might have trouble re-signing Hart Trophy winner Taylor Hall to an extension. Despite recent rumors that New Jersey management and Hall were going to discuss a possible new contract, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman poured some cold water on that during Saturday night’s Hockey Night in Canada segment, suggesting that an extension in New Jersey appears bleak.

“I think the Devils now know it’s unlikely they are going to be able to get a contract done during the year,” said Friedman. “I think it’s up to (Devils GM) Ray Shero who is going to have to decide what the Devils’ course of action here is going to be, because I think it’s very unlikely he agrees to sign with them during the year.”

Hall, who won the Hart Trophy in the 2017-18 season, after posting 39 goals and 93 points and almost single-handedly leading New Jersey into the playoffs, has said in the past that he wants to play on a playoff contender before his star status begins to fade. The Devils are currently in last place in the Metropolitan Division with a 4-7-4 record, not exactly what the team envisioned when it went out and brought in Jack Hughes, P.K. Subban, Wayne Simmonds and Nikita Gusev. Hall has fared well, scoring close to a point per game this year with two goals and 14 points in 15 games, but is far from his Hart Trophy season two years ago.

Hall’s agent, Darren Ferris, is also known for advising his clients to wait until as late as possible to truly gauge the market for his clients’ services. If that’s the case, the Devils cannot take a chance that Hall might opt to walk away on July 1 for nothing, meaning the team will likely have to consider a trade to a team that Hall is willing to sign with. That trade could come sooner than later with it being more unlikely the team would wait until the trade deadline to make a decision.

Snapshots: Sobotka, Archibald, Hall

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Buffalo Sabres forward Vladimir Sobotka was removed from today’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning after being hit low by Nikita Kucherov, and did not return. John Vogl of The Athletic saw Sobotka after the game in an air cast, but Sabres’ head coach Ralph Krueger wouldn’t speculate on how long he will be out.

Though he has been the whipping boy for many Sabres fans frustrated with the team’s lack of secondary scoring, Sobotka still seems to be a favorite of the coaching staff that continues to give him regular ice time. In his first season with Buffalo last year he failed to make much of an impact scoring just 13 points in 69 games, and has just three so far this season. The Sabres will likely insert Evan Rodrigues into the lineup for the other Global Series game tomorrow afternoon.

  • The Edmonton Oilers have activated Josh Archibald from injured reserve, and will also have Riley Sheahan back in the lineup when they take on the New Jersey Devils tonight. The team is looking to get back in the win column after two straight losses to Western Conference opponents, but still sit atop the Pacific Division with a 10-5-2 record.
  • Taylor Hall will be front and center in that matchup as he returns to Edmonton in the midst of plenty of contract speculation, including some suggesting that the Oilers would have some interest in bringing him back. Mark Spector of Sportsnet examines the Hall situation, explaining how the player has expressed clearly his desire to return to the playoffs before his time as a star in the league runs out. The Devils sit at 4-6-4 on the season, in last place in the Metropolitan Division.

Metropolitan Notes: Hall, Couturier, Chytil

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There hasn’t been much in the way of recent discussions about an extension between the Devils and winger Taylor Hall.  However, it appears as if that will be changing as Hall told NHL.com’s Mike Morreale that his agent Darren Ferris will be sitting down with New Jersey GM Ray Shero at some point during their Western road trip to talk contract.  That will represent their first meeting since the beginning of the season.

The 27-year-old came into the season with a chance at pushing for a similar price tag to Artemi Panarin, who back in July landed a record-setting $11.642MM AAV, the highest ever given to a winger.  However, while he has played relatively well so far, he’ll need to pick things up on the goal front as he has just two in a dozen games so far this season.  Nonetheless, with a current $6MM cap hit, Hall will be in line for a substantial raise regardless of whether that’s with the Devils or someone else.

More from the Metropolitan Division:

  • Flyers center Sean Couturier is playing through a shoulder injury, reports Jordan Hall of NBC Sports Philadelphia. Head coach Alain Vigneault acknowledged that Philadelphia’s team doctors had asked him to have him not take faceoffs in an effort to help the strain heal.  It’s believed that Couturier will need to avoid taking draws for the better part of another week.  Despite the discomfort, he’s off to another strong start to his season with nine points through 13 games so far.
  • Rangers center Filip Chytil has impressed since being recalled from AHL Hartford with a pair of goals in as many games going into Monday’s contest against Ottawa. He mentioned to Greg Joyce of the New York Post that part of the reason for his early success is that he’s playing his natural position after spending most of last year on the wing.  However, with Mika Zibanejad nearing a return from his neck issue, that opportunity to play down the middle may not be there for much longer.  It appears that he’ll have to adapt to the wing again or head back to the minors; given how he has fared thus far, the former is more likely than the latter.

Metropolitan Notes: Hall, Couturier, Capitals Depth

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Two days after criticizing New Jersey Devils fans after the team was booed during the team’s overtime loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday, Taylor Hall scored the go-ahead goal in the third period, put his hand to his ear, turned to the crowd and made a “Let’s hear it” gesture. When asked about it after the team’s 4-3 shootout loss to the Flyers, Hall said there was no ill-will towards New Jersey fans.

“That’s sports,” said Hall on Friday. “I mean, you’re up, you’re down, and that’s just kind of the way the season’s going right now. We play well enough to win and we don’t. So, we’re gonna have to work for our breaks, and no one is feeling sorry for us right now. We know we’re right there. We know this is no time to quit on our game plan or quit on each other. It’s really just about going out there and keep doing the things that we’re doing well and I think wins are going to follow.”

Hall was critical of fans after Wednesday’s games that led many to speculate that Hall may not want to play in New Jersey down the road. The 27-year-old will be an unrestricted free agent on July 1, and so far has resisted signing an extension with the team, which could leave the Devils forced to trade him sooner than later if they can’t get him locked up to a deal.

  • The Courier Post’s David Isaac reports that Philadelphia Flyers center Sean Couturier played hurt on Friday when the Flyers faced off against the New Jersey Devils. The scribe writes that the left-handed Couturier struggled with his left hand or wrist and avoided taking faceoffs Friday, allowing Travis Konecny to take all, but three of the faceoffs when he was bounced from the circle. In the end, Couturier took those three faceoffs, losing them all. It’s not clear when he injured his hand, but it was before Friday’s game. “I’m not feeling 100 percent, but it’s part of a season,” said Couturier. “You got to battle through injuries. I’m just trying to do what I can to help the team win.” Couturier will remain day-to-day for now, although the team lacks quality depth at the center position if he has to miss any time.
  • The Washington Post’s Samantha Pell writes that the Washington Capitals are happier with the team’s forward depth this season as opposed to last season. The team brought in three key depth pieces in Brendan Leipsic, Richard Panik and Garnet Hathaway and with impressive play of Chandler Stephenson, Nic Dowd and Travis Boyd. It has given head coach Todd Rierden an opportunity to move players around much easier and create a climate of competition between bottom-line players. “We are in the middle of the process,” Rierden said. “Not even in the middle, but if you were to look at this to start the season, I think numbers wise you would be happy with where we are at standing-wise.”

 

Snapshots: Wild Injuries, Hall, Fleury, Letestu

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After blocking several point shots on the same penalty kill on Thursday night, Wild center Joel Eriksson Ek looked to be in a lot of pain and the fact he didn’t return to the game was cause for concern.  However, head coach Bruce Boudreau told reporters, including Sarah McLellan of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune (Twitter link), that the lower-body injury should only keep him out for a week or two.  Meanwhile, center Victor Rask is listed as day-to-day and will not suit up on Sunday against Montreal.  Additionally, winger Mats Zuccarello was transferred to injured reserve to create a roster spot for their earlier recall of Gabriel Dumont today.  He last played on October 12th meaning that he’ll be eligible to be activated as soon as he’s able to return.

Elsewhere around the league:

  • Devils GM Ray Shero acknowledged to reporters, including Corey Masisak of The Athletic (Twitter link), that he spoke with Taylor Hall’s agent over the last few days but stopped short of indicating if any discussions were held regarding a potential contract extension. Hall’s future with New Jersey is one of the big storylines around the league in the early going of the season and their slow start to 2019-20 has only increased the spotlight.  He has a $6MM cap hit but could come close to doubling that on his next deal if he has a strong performance this season and stays healthy.
  • Canadiens defenseman Cale Fleury is dealing with a minor injury and won’t play today, notes Stu Cowan of the Montreal Gazette. Head coach Claude Julien has already classified the rookie as doubtful for their game on Sunday as well but that the issue shouldn’t hold him out for more than a week.  Christian Folin will return to the lineup in Fleury’s absence.
  • Jets center Mark Letestu has been shut down through the end of the month due to an undisclosed injury, reports TSN 1290’s Brian Munz (Twitter link). He has already been transferred to injured reserve.  The issue could pave the way for rookie David Gustafsson to have more of a regular role after playing in just two games so far this season.

Latest On Taylor Hall, New Jersey Devils

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The New Jersey Devils are one of the most interesting teams in the league right now, with immense pressure on their coaching staff to get things turned around after their early season struggles. Those struggles go beyond just the immediate future of John Hynes though, as the team continues to try to convince Taylor Hall to sign a long-term extension. Elliotte Friedman starts off his latest 31 Thoughts column for Sportsnet with an examination of the situation, and then explained himself further on the Tim and Sid show:

The Devils know that if they’re not looking like a consistent playoff team, the chances of him staying are extremely unlikely. So they know they have to get going. They made a pretty interesting move today behind the bench. They realize if it doesn’t change they’re going to have to start having these [trade] conversations with other clubs.

Friedman even went on to speculate about a potential suitor, noting that the Edmonton Oilers have wanted to “correct” the previous trade for a long time. The Oilers obviously have a new front office in place now, but the simple fact that it is getting to the point of speculation like this is not the way the Devils hoped this season would go.

After selecting Jack Hughes first overall, adding P.K. Subban, Wayne Simmonds and Nikita Gusev, New Jersey was supposed to be not only improved but competing for a playoff spot in the Metropolitan Division. They’ve now gotten off to an 0-4-2 start to the season and can’t seem to find their way in either end of the rink, allowing more than twice as many goals as they have scored to this point.

It is too early for the Devils to throw in the towel—after all, it’s just six games—but after watching their rival New York Islanders lose captain John Tavares for nothing as an unrestricted free agent (a decision by the forward that Hall has said “took a lot of guts”) they’ll need to make a tough decision before the trade deadline on whether their future includes the 2018 Hart Trophy winner if he doesn’t yet have a contract in hand.

Hall will turn 28 next month and has five points through six games.

Pressure Mounting On Devils To Make A Call On Taylor Hall

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An 0-3-2 start is not exactly what was expected of the revamped New Jersey Devils to begin the season. The team added pieces that they felt would improve the offense in Norris-trophy winning defenseman P.K. Subban, veteran power forward Wayne Simmonds, KHL superstar Nikita Gusev, and No. 1 overall pick Jack Hughes. At least on paper, it was supposed to provide a major boost for the Devils, but the results on the ice have not reflected the influx of talent just yet. While the off-season investment was primarily due to the team’s disappointing 15th-place finish in the Eastern Conference last year, GM Ray Shero was also surely looking ahead to next summer and trying to convince the team’s biggest star, 2017-18 Hart Trophy winner Taylor Hall, that New Jersey is a good place to be for the next stage of his career. However, if the team continues to struggle and Hall is unconvinced of future success with the Devils, Shero and company need to make a move, and the sooner they do the better return they can command. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that the Devils’ win-less start to the year has others around the league wondering how patient the team will be on making a decision on Hall.

Should he reach the open market this off-season, Hall would undoubtedly be the prize of free agency. While the likes of Nicklas Backstrom and Alex Pietrangelo could potentially be available as well, Hall will be just 28 years old and already has an MVP performance on his resume. Especially if his injury issues are behind him, Hall represents an opportunity to add a player with 40-goal and 100-point upside perennially over a long-term deal. If he could produce at that level on a very shallow Devils team two years ago, there’s no limit to what he could do finally playing for a true contender for the first time in his career. The Devils would like Hall to think that they have the makings of being that true contender that can surround him with elite talent for years to come. However, if they fail to back up that assertion with continued struggles this season, the last thing that Shero can do is wait too long and allow Hall to walk away without any return.

According to Friedman’s colleague Chris Johnston, Hall’s agent Darren Ferris has had little communication yet with the Devils on an extension. While Johnston doesn’t rule out the two sides agreeing to a new deal, the outcome will grow more and more unlikely with each notch in the loss column. Even if New Jersey fails to put up points, Hall will. He has shown in the past that he can produce at a high level on losing teams and, barring another injury-riddled campaign, his market value is nearly concrete. Ferris and Hall know that New Jersey is not the only team that would be willing to give him the contract he desires and will likely hold out on extension talks until there is more sign of promise coming from the Devils’ results on the ice.

If there is no hope of such a resolution, due to the Devils’ miscues or otherwise, Hall will have to be traded. At a $6MM cap price tag, his contract is hardly an albatross that interested teams would struggle to add, especially as the season wears on. Regardless of when Shero chooses to pull the trigger, the team will get a great return for Hall’s services. Yet, the team would obviously maximize that return by making the decision to deal him before the trade deadline in late February. In fact, the earlier the better, especially in light of Hall’s recent injury concerns. But is this too early? While he reports that there are already rumblings from interested persons across the NHL, Friedman says that it is “way too soon” for the team to talk about moving Hall. He notes New Jersey’s difficult schedule to begin the year and feels that they deserve to give themselves a larger sample size of Hall playing alongside their talented new additions before making any sort of projection on how the season will turn out. Friedman admits that Shero is a bold general manager, but doesn’t expect a move at this point or in the immediate future.

So then just how soon could Hall be dealt if the Devils don’t improve? While Canada celebrates Thanksgiving today, it is American Thanksgiving in late November that is commonly used as a benchmark for the likelihood of success of a team’s season. Over the last six years, more than 70% of teams in a playoff spot at that point have earned a postseason berth. If New Jersey is not in the playoff picture or at least close and there is no alternative reason other than the team continuing to underperform relative to their talent level as they have through five games, that’s likely when the status quo could change on Hall. In the meantime, interest will continue to build in Hall as he remains unsigned and pressure will mount if the Devils don’t begin to win some games with regularity.

East Notes: Hall, Pominville, Point

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While contract talks are ongoing with several prominent restricted free agents, it appears that talks will also soon be occurring with arguably the top pending unrestricted free agent forward.   Devils GM Ray Shero told NHL.com’s Mike Morreale that he plans to sit down with winger Taylor Hall at some point during training camp to discuss a potential contract extension.  While he’s coming off a season that saw him play just 33 games due to a knee injury, he’s only a year removed from winning the Hart Trophy.  Between that and the fact that a new market record was recently set for a winger when Artemi Panarin signed for an AAV just over $11.64MM with the Rangers back in July.  Hall could certainly find himself in that range if he was to make it to the open market next summer which would represent a significant jump on his current $6MM cap hit.

Elsewhere in the East:

  • Veteran winger Jason Pominville won’t be surfacing at training camp with Montreal but the door hasn’t completely closed on a return to Buffalo. GM Jason Botterill told reporters, including Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News (Twitter link) that they continue to have discussions with the 36-year-old although he also indicated they don’t intend to bring anyone into camp on a tryout deal.  Pominville has indicated that his preference is to play somewhere which wouldn’t require uprooting his family which is why Buffalo and Montreal have been mentioned as the likeliest spots for him to play.  However, if the Sabres don’t have a spot for him, he’ll either have to reassess his options or potentially call it a career.
  • Talks between the Lightning and RFA center Brayden Point to not appear to be progressing well. Joe Smith of The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that a deal between the two sides is still not close.  Point is coming off of a career year that saw him pick up 92 points in 79 games.  However, Tampa Bay has a well-defined salary structure with Nikita Kucherov and Andrei Vasilevskiy (starting next year) at $9.5MM.  That would seemingly represent the ceiling for his earning potential on his contract.  While they don’t quite have that much cap space to work with, the Lightning could still conceivably approach the $8MM mark without having to do much in the way of cap-related roster changes.

East Notes: Backes, Hall, Capitals

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Although the Bruins would certainly not want to part with an asset to get out of the remainder of David Backes’ contract, Pro Hockey Talk’s James O’Brien argues that doing so may be a necessary evil this offseason.  Boston has a pair of young defensemen to re-sign in Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo and with about $8MM in cap space to work with per CapFriendly, that probably won’t be enough to get both signed.  While parting with a pick and/or prospect to move Backes and his $6MM price tag, freeing that up would safely allow them to re-sign both defenders plus take a run at an extension for blueliner Torey Krug who is slated to become an unrestricted free agent next summer.  As Backes no longer has a no-move clause in his contract (though he still has considerable no-trade protection), he’s someone that could be waived and sent to the minors next season but doing so would only open up $1.075MM in extra cap room.

Elsewhere out East:

  • Devils winger Taylor Hall will be entering the final year of his contract in 2019-20 and there haven’t been significant discussions about a contract extension just yet. GM Ray Shero told NHL.com’s Mike Morreale that he doesn’t expect Hall’s pending free agency to be a distraction next season.  The 27-year-old projects to be one of the top players in the 2020 UFA class and with Artemi Panarin setting a new benchmark for wingers in free agency, it wouldn’t be too surprising if Hall’s current asking price is in that $11MM range.
  • While some teams have shied away from handing out extra years on contracts in an effort to lower the cap hit in recent years, Capitals GM Brian MacLellan acknowledged to J.J. Regan of NBC Sports Washington that he was comfortable offering extra term to his class of free agent signings to get them at a cheaper price tag. Wingers Richard Panik, Carl Hagelin, and Garnet Hathaway all received four-year deals from Washington, a term that not many expected.  However, the trio has a combined $7MM cap hit, a reasonable price tag for three upgrades to their depth.

Morning Notes: Dzingel, Hall, Kadri

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Ryan Dzingel is arguably the top remaining unrestricted free agent, ranked No. 12 overall by PHR and the leading scorer this past season among all available names. Yet, there’s been surprisingly little noise surrounding Dzingel, a 27-year-old coming off of a career high’s across the board. The New York Post’s Larry Brooks writes that some teams are skeptical about Dzingel’s potential for production, not based on his year overall but rather his late-season stint with the Columbus Blue Jackets. After being moved at the NHL Trade Deadline by the Ottawa Senators, Dzingel recorded just 12 points in 21 games with Columbus and eventually lost the trust of the coaching staff in the postseason, with one point in nine games earning him a healthy scratch. Brooks remarks that the Blue Jackets’ lack of interest in retaining Dzingel, a former star at nearby Ohio State University, is one of several “red flags” for the young winger this off-season.

It’s likely that price is playing a role in Dzingel’s market as well. After a 56-point campaign, Dzingel’s camp was though to be seeking a $5MM AAV over a long-term contract. In a vacuum, that would seem to be a fair offer, but in a market where many teams are closer to the salary cap limit than expected, a player who is coming off a disappointing final few months of the season may need to lower his expectations. That rings especially true if he wants to land with one of his reported top destinations and a team known to have interest, the Chicago Blackhawks. Dzingel is an Illinois native and his skill set would seem to fit in perfectly with his hometown Blackhawks, who could still use another top-six winger. However, The Chicago Sun-Times’ Ben Pope writes that the team would have to move out a player, likely Artem Anisimov or Connor Murphy, to accommodate Dzingel’s salary demands. Until that happens, Pope cites GM Stan Bowman, who recently said his roster is “pretty full” and currently only in need of “housekeeping”. That doesn’t mean that Chicago, whose off-season moves have pointed toward a deep desire to return to contender status, will not continue to pursue Dzingel, but it may prove too difficult at his current asking price. If the scoring winger wants to ensure he has a long-term fit in a place that he’d like to be, Dzingel could consider taking a lesser deal to join the Blackhawks.

  • Another team looking to return to the playoffs are the New Jersey Devils and GM Ray Shero and company have certainly done their part in that pursuit this summer, drafting Jack Hughes, trading for P.K. Subban, and signing Wayne Simmonds. While the ultimate goal is to become a contender as soon as possible, the more pressing need – also with that goal in mind – is to convince superstar forward Taylor Hall that New Jersey is a team worth staying with to win a Stanley Cup. Hall is an impending free agent next summer and could be in line for a record-breaking contract, whether he tests the open market or not. The Devils have the cap space to meet his salary demands, but needed to focus this off-season on improving the talent around him after a season in which the team finished well outside the playoff picture. On paper, New Jersey should return to relevance next season and early indications are that Hall is happy with the transformation. In an interview with TSN, the 2018 Hart Trophy winner said that seeing the summer used to improve the talent level of the team and inject new blood after a disappointing campaign is exactly what you want to see. He added that Shero asked his opinion of the Subban trade before it was made and that he was totally on board and excited to play with his fellow star. All signs point to Hall being in favor of these off-season changes and eager to get started with the new season. If the Devils perform to the level they should on paper, Hall will have much more reason to consider a long-term extension to stay in New Jersey.
  • New Colorado Avalanche center Nazem Kadri could have gone elsewhere if he wanted. The Toronto Sun’s Steve Simmons reports that Kadri flexed his No-Trade Clause to block a trade to the Calgary Flames. Even after taking calls from Flames GM Brad Treliving and head coach Bill Peters, Kadri nixed a deal that would have seen he and Connor Brown, now an Ottawa Senator, go to Calgary in exchange for T.J. Brodie and Mark Jankowski. Simmons did not explain why Kadri was anti-Calgary, but did note that the fit in Colorado is better. As for the end result for the Leafs, Tyson Barrie and Alexander Kerfoot are a better package, but cost the the team young defenseman Calle Rosen, who Simmons states they did not wish to move, as well as a third-round pick. Also, Brodie would have been a more affordable defenseman to re-sign compare to Barrie, who could very well price himself out of Toronto after one year. It’s a toss up on which deal would have been better had Kadri not put his foot down.

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