Once again, we have “news” that Taylor Hall and the New Jersey Devils have not discussed a contract extension. This is about the 10th time we’ve heard the same exact thing.
The New Jersey Devils and Taylor Hall’s camp have not spoken about a contract extension. This is either coming from a report in the Athletic or TSN or Yahoo or from Taylor Hall himself or Darren Ferris his agent or Ray Shero, the Devils’ general manager. Depending on the day and the outlet, we’ve heard just about every day sine June 3rd that Taylor Hall and the Devils have not discussed a contract extension.
All that we think about is the “Leave Britney Alone” person from a few years ago when thinking about everyone pestering Taylor Hall for answers he doesn’t have.
That day was when the report came out in the Fourth Period that Hall was “not thinking about a contract extension, right now.” Yeah, right now. Right now, the Devils are worried about where to put their prospects they just drafted, what Jack Hughes‘ next media availability is, where they want P.K. Subban and Lindsey Vonn to live in the Garden State, oh and this little thing call free agency that starts next week.
Hall is signed for the 2018-19 season. He is eligible to re-sign with the Devils on July 1st, but he made it pretty clear he wants to see who’s going to be on this team come next season before he makes a long-term commitment.
Would we like Hall to sign on the dotted line the second it’s available to him? Of course we would. However, that’s almost never how it works with a star player. These contracts are complicated, and GMs would like to focus on the contracts for the team’s new players over the one that’s committed for next season.
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We don’t need to ask Hall at every dinner, golf tournament, charity event and hockey media availability whether he’s spoken to the Devils about re-signing. He’s said nothing but how much he loves the culture of the Devils. He also says he wants to play for a Stanley Cup contender. Maybe the Devils aren’t a Cup contender right this second, but the St. Louis Blues showed up one major move can mean the difference between missing the playoffs and winning it all as long as you have a goalie who can win games for you. Mackenzie Blackwood might be that guy, and Cory Schneider isn’t someone to sleep on either after how he played the last time the Devils were in the playoffs.
This conversation will continue, of course, but don’t look too much into it. Some of these stars make us wait until the last minute before they commit. With the direction the salary cap is going, not many teams will be able to pay $10 million per season for anyone on the free agency market, especially a team with a better present and future for contention. One team that made sense was the San Jose Sharks, but then they gave Erik Karlsson $11 million per season.
Plus, if Hall doesn’t want to sign before the trade deadline, the Devils are going to trade him. Even if they are playoff contenders, if he’s not looking to sign with this team at the time, Shero will turn him into assets, and a lot of them.
At the end of the day, we need to let this play out. We don’t need daily updates on Hall’s thought process, especially since Shero isn’t even thinking about this extension until later in the summer. We’re just going to drive ourselves crazy.