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Taylor Hall

Pacific Notes: Coyotes, Ritchie, Nugent-Hopkins, Kovalchuk

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With hints that the Arizona Coyotes are interested in acquiring New Jersey Devils star Taylor Hall, The Athletic’s Craig Morgan (subscription required) confirms that the team is interested, but general manager John Chayka also has made it clear that he likes his roster as would prefer to keep his roster in tact. However, if the team continues to perform well, the GM might be willing to make a big splash.

“I view each season as sacred,” Chayka said. “Any time you get a chance to make a push, you have to look to do that. When players have earned that right and are serious about making a push — if they’re doing their job then I’ve got to do my job. If these guys keep playing hard and playing well, then yeah, I think it’s going to force us to make some additions to this team.”

Chayka might prefer to move picks and prospects in a deal for Hall rather than break up the team. However, Morgan does add that there are a few prospects that are off limits, including Barrett Hayton, Victor Soderstrom and Jan Jenik.

  • While there is nothing official on the severity of his injury, Anaheim Ducks head coach Dallas Eakins said that the injury that forward Nick Ritchie sustained Friday against the Washington Capitals “does not look very good,” according to The Athletic’s Eric Stephens. Ritchie injured his knee after sustaining a late hit from the Capitals’ Radko Gudas and Ritchie had trouble putting weight on his leg as he left the ice, suggesting the injury could be long-term.
  • The Edmonton Oilers look to be getting back a familiar face as the team announced that forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins will return to the ice Sunday against the Buffalo Sabres. Nugent-Hopkins has missed the past six games with a hand injury. Nugent-Hopkins has five goals and 16 points in 25 games.
  • Little has changed for the Los Angeles Kings Ilya Kovalchuk, who has not appeared in a game since Nov. 9, according to The Athletic’s Lisa Dillman (subscription required). Regardless, Kovalchuk has continued to practice and travel with the team and has maintained a positive attitude despite sitting in the press box. “The situation with Kovy is a tough one for everybody,” Kings head coach Todd McLellan said. “I can tell you that he’s been outstanding. Kovy’s situation has nothing to do with him as a person or his work ethic or anything like that. He’s outstanding. He works as hard as anybody right now.

 

Latest On Taylor Hall’s Trade Market

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While the Colorado Avalanche are usually the first name mentioned when it comes to a potential Taylor Hall trade (and for good reason), there’s another Western Conference team trying to acquire the pending free agent. Darren Dreger of TSN reports that the Arizona Coyotes are “definitely interested” in the New Jersey Devils star forward and are “not concerned” about the potential high asking price.

That asking price may be flexible however, as in the same segment Bob McKenzie explained that the Devils aren’t necessarily looking for the first-round pick, top prospect and young roster player package that is usually discussed when talking about high-end rentals. Instead, they “haven’t set any parameters” and will just ask for the best offer from any interested teams, regardless of what exactly that includes.

Being open to anything like that will certainly perk up the ears of general managers around the league that might not necessarily have the same prospect capital as teams like the Avalanche, who are still one of the most logical destinations for Hall because of their current situation. If the Devils are willing to take some salary back in a trade it could basically make any contender an option, as there aren’t many teams that wouldn’t improve by adding Hall.

That said, McKenzie expressed some uncertainty over when this move would even happen. That’s the same implication that Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet gave when he wrote earlier this week that though the Hall talks have intensified it “doesn’t mean it’s going to happen at this time.” Even if it does look more and more like Hall will be moved, there’s no clear playbook to use here. The Devils can’t miss on whatever package they get for him, given the struggles they’ve had this season.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

New Jersey Devils Put Miles Wood “On The Block”

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While all the trade speculation around the New Jersey Devils is focused on Taylor Hall, thanks to an expiring contract and struggling team, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports there is another forward on the market. Miles Wood has been put “on the block” by the Devils writes Friedman, explaining that the energy forward hasn’t been “as aggressive or edgy” this season.

Wood, 24, is averaging fewer than a hit per game this season after racking up 97 in just 63 games last year, and has just three goals and seven points in 27 contests. That’s a far cry from his 19-goal season of two years ago, when he really burst onto the scene as an elite counter-punching option that could get behind defenders.

It was after that season that Wood signed a four-year, $11MM deal which keeps him under contract through the 2021-22 season at an average annual value of $2.75MM. That contract looked like a bargain then, but may be a hinderance to any deal now if he can’t get his offensive game going in the right direction. Currently on pace for just nine goals, there aren’t a lot of teams in the league that can afford to pay a struggling bottom-six player who doesn’t penalty kill nearly $3MM.

If the Devils continue to struggle this season there will be changes, and the fact that Wood’s name has come up quickly suggests he may be one of the first to move. Hall will continue to generate the storylines, but the rest of the roster is worth keeping an eye on.

Devils Listening To Trade Offers For Taylor Hall

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3:07 PM — The Athletic’s Corey Masisak reports (Twitter link) that Hall refused to talk about potential trade talk, saying that he wants Shero and Ferris to handle questions about that. Hall, however, denied that he has asked to be traded.

12:02 PM — Devils winger Taylor Hall is the top player in the 2020 class of unrestricted free agents and with contract extension talks not yielding much progress, there had been plenty of speculation as to whether or not GM Ray Shero would be open to trading him at some point this season.  It appears that he’s open to the idea at the very least as Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that New Jersey is now listening to offers for the 2018 Hart Trophy winner.

Things have not gone according to plan for New Jersey or Hall this season.  The Devils are floundering in the standings as they sit at the bottom of the Metropolitan Division and only Detroit has fewer points than them in the league.  That makes a potential postseason push (where it could be justifiable to consider keeping him even without an extension in place) quite unlikely.  As for Hall, while he leads the team in points with 21, he currently has just four goals on the season so a change of scenery could certainly help his market value if he can get back on track offensively.

There’s no denying that Hall could help any number of contenders but the fact that New Jersey is open to the idea of moving him now could also open up some interest from some teams that are on the playoff bubble currently.  An addition like that could certainly push one of those squads into a postseason position.

If a trade was to get done in the near future, it wouldn’t automatically mean that an extension would be forthcoming as has been the case with other star rentals that have moved in recent years.  The acquiring team could get an opportunity to see how Hall adapts and whether or not he’s someone that can fit in with their long-term planning.  If not, then he’d become a rental candidate closer to the February 24th trade deadline.

It’s also worth noting that Hall is represented by Darren Ferris who has a reputation of encouraging his players to wait things out and get to the open market.  To that end, LeBrun speculates that any sort of trade package would likely have to have some conditional assets attached to it that would be transferred if and when a new deal with the acquiring team was struck.

Hall is currently carrying a $6MM salary and cap hit but that amount will certainly be going up by a significant margin on his next deal.  Heading into the year, it was thought by some that he could come close to Artemi Panarin’s $11.643MM AAV, a record price tag for a winger.  His early-season showing lessens the odds of that but it’s certainly quite possible that his next deal is in the $10MM range which would still make him one of the top-priced forwards in the league.  That thought could ultimately take some cap-strapped teams out of the equation as they may not want to part with some top assets for what likely would only wind up being a rental player, as talented as Hall may be.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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.

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