New Jersey Devils: Will Taylor Hall’s Contract Situation Impact His Play?
The New Jersey Devils have a superstar talent in Taylor Hall. His contract is up after this season, so will his situation affect his play?
The New Jersey Devils have lots of young talent on their team. They are looking like a team that could be building a serious contender long term, but they have a current situation going on in the organization that has been in the back of everyone’s mind for three years. Taylor Hall is on an expiring contract and is currently slated to be an unrestricted free agent on July 1st, 2020.
So normally, these types of situations can be a distraction for players. Everybody wants to have stability in their job. Hall will certainly have his current situation on his mind until it is resolved. The Devils will likely opt to trade him if he doesn’t make a commitment to this team by the trade deadline. So how will this affect his play in 2019-20?
The rest of the league should be scared. Hall only played in 33 games last season, so people are wondering if his health is going to be an issue. In those 33 games, he had 37 points which is a 92 point pace over an 82 game schedule. He was on his way to being in the MVP conversation once again after winning it in 2018. His absence caused the downfall of the Devils as he wasn’t there to carry them on his back.
The reason the rest of the league should be nervous is Hall should be very motivated to earn himself the best contract possible. He knows that he has had some issues with injuries, so he is going to be looking to be healthy and produce at a high-level clip. He is likely going to do that this season. He wants to show the world why he is worth lots of money and term in his next deal. The Devils added lots of extra talent around him that wasn’t there before as well, so he will have lots of help and depth.
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If Hall plays the way he can, this team could be bound for the playoffs. He should reach the 35 goals and 90 point plateau if he stays healthy. He is so elite offensively that he can be the definition of a gamechanger. He has tremendous chemistry with Nico Hischier, and together they could be a duo on one of the best lines in the league. Hall knows this potential he can bring and should be highly motivated going into training camp, so his play this year should be affected by his contract situation in a positive way.