The New Jersey Devils top priority this offseason is to re-sign Taylor Hall to a major extension, but if you are to believe the most recent report they may not even get the chance.
So, New Jersey Devils fans were welcomed to Monday morning with a rumor that their star player wanted out. Great.
The Fourth Period reports that Taylor Hall has no plans to sign an extension “as of right now”. There are a lot of connecting of the dots in this report that may not be all it seems.
The only quote in the article comes from Hall’s agent Darren Ferris. All he told the reporter on this was he was “unable to provide further details on negotiations.” That’s pretty obvious, because an agent would never go on the record for a leak. They only do that anonymously and to push to the team to make certain moves.
The article seems to accentuate what we already knew about this process. Hall is not signing with the Devils if the team looks like they do currently. He won’t be satisfied with Jack Hughes being the only major addition this offseason. That does not make this a playoff team now, unless just about everything goes right.
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I’m big on the whole “when there’s smoke there’s at least some fire” philosophy. There’s probably something here, but again it might just be that Hall is likely giving the Devils an ultimatum. They need to add talent to the point that Hall thinks he’s playing on a playoff team, or he’ll explore his options in free agency.
Either way, this is not the very end for Taylor Hall in New Jersey. This isn’t him asking for a trade. However, there are some things about Hall this offseason that feel different. He’s been a lot more out there, doing different media appearances and interviews on different outlets. He’s never directly acknowledged his status with the Devils, but he is definitely more attainable this offseason.
This could be absolutely nothing. The Devils could make a draft-day trade, Hall could love the thought of playing with that player, and he could sign long term. That’s all the Devils could do at this point. They can’t attempt to make the playoffs right now, that gravy train is over.
If this is something, then Hall is about to be the top trade target of the offseason. Expect Ray Shero to actively shop him if all signs indicate he doesn’t trust the process. Hopefully, if Hall does want out, the Devils can get enough back from him that we don’t have to wait another five years to become contenders again.