New Jersey Devils: Five One-For-One Trades For Taylor Hall
The New Jersey Devils and their franchise player have some decisions to make, but if one isn’t made in short order, Taylor Hall might be on the move.
No rational fan of the New Jersey Devils actually wants them to trade away Taylor Hall. He has been the face of the franchise for three seasons, and there have been some amazing moments during his time here. Hall really reached his potential in 2017-18 when he was so dominant that he won the Hart Trophy as the MVP of the NHL. It was an impressive run that saw New Jersey make it to the playoffs for the first time in six seasons.
The only way that anyone would want to trade away Hall is if it is clear that he is not going to sign a contract extension. At that point, you become in danger of losing him for nothing. Hall is an elite player. If you are going to make a trade that sends him away, you better be getting something elite in return.
Hall was given to the Devils in a one-for-one trade with the Edmonton Oilers for defenseman Adam Larsson. It was a trade that most people assumed the Devils would come out on top in, but maybe not by this much. Larsson is a middle-pair defenseman and Hall reached his potential as a former number-one overall pick. The Devils certainly wouldn’t trade him away in a deal like that. They would probably want more than just one player in return, but if they were to do a one for one type of trade involving Hall, these are the five players that would make the most sense:
Mitch Marner
Most hockey fans know about the Mitch Marner saga going on right now. In case you don’t, he is a superstar right wing for the Toronto Maple Leafs that’s currently a restricted free agent coming off of a true breakout season. Marner had an incredible year and is looking to get paid. The problem is, with other star players like Auston Matthews, John Tavares, and William Nylander eating up lots of the team’s cap space, there isn’t much wiggle room for Marner.
Marner is now threatening to sign a contract with the Zurich Lions in Switzerland. If he were to make the move to Europe, that could be bad news for the Leafs because if he doesn’t have a contract signed by a certain date, he will become ineligible to play this season.
It is looking like this could go well into training camp and possibly even beyond. Marner wants a lot of money after posting 94 points in 2018-19. He was magnificent on a line with Tavares for Toronto and has definitely earned himself a nice payday. The Leafs just might not be able to afford him and that is where a team like the Devils could help them.
Hall is a year removed from being Hart Trophy winner. He was on the same trajectory before his injury and is on an expiring contract. The difference between Hall and Marner is age. Hall will turn 28 during the upcoming season while Marner is only 22. Hall will probably get something in the $9-10 million range while Marner is looking for even more.
The Devils might be willing to do that for Marner, thus making him a candidate to be traded one for one. If the Leafs were willing to take Hall in the middle of his prime, that also might be able to propel them to where they need to be.
Matthew Tkachuk
The Devils could use some grit. They have guys like Miles Wood and Wayne Simmonds, but if they could get a guy that could score in bunches on top of being gritty, that would be a really nice addition. Matthew Tkachuk is one of those guys. If you think of a player like Brad Marchand of the Boston Bruins, that is what Tkachuk can become.
Hall was born in Calgary, so that might also be some incentive for each team to make this move. Hall might be okay with playing for his hometown Flames and the Devils would be getting a player of Tkachuk’s caliber. He is probably going to get paid in a similar range to what Hall is going to get and Tkachuk is only going to turn 22 over the 2019-20 season.
He is a restricted free agent much like Marner. He isn’t in as messy of a situation as Marner is and you can blame him still being unsigned on him waiting for Marner to set the market. He had 34 goals and 43 assists last season. That is really good production for a 21 year old and he would be an awesome addition to the Devils if Hall didn’t want to stay.
He clearly isn’t as good of a player as Hall when healthy, but Tkachuk is evolving into an elite player and a one-for-one trade in this situation is one that would benefit both teams. Tkachuk could end up being a guy who scores as many points as Hall one day and he brings another element to his team that not many players can bring. He is going to be so good for so long and any team would be lucky to have him.
Alex DeBrincat
The Chicago Blackhawks appear to have struck gold when the selected Alex DeBrincat in the 2nd round of the 2016 NHL Draft. He slipped in the draft thanks to his small stature, although in juniors he proved he can play with elite players and score goals at a very high rate. In 2018-19 he scored 41 goals and added in 35 assists without missing a game.
He did a lot of it separated from Patrick Kane and proved that he can score on his own while helping others succeed. He has one year remaining on his entry-level deal and could find himself in a similar situation to a lot of this years RFAs by this time next year. He is probably going to be looking for a similar amount of money to what Hall will get, so maybe the Blackhawks would be better off trading him.
Hall and Kane have both won the Hart Trophy in the last few years, and Hall might fit the timeline of the Blackhawks better anyway. Their window is the duration of the contracts of both Kane and Jonathan Toews, and they might be sellers once those guys are gone. Hall might be a better fit for that window then DeBrincat if they so choose.
It might be something to look at from a Devils point of view because they have lots of playmakers, but not as many pure shooters. DeBrincat would bring a type of goal scorer that the Devils lack outside of Kyle Palmieri. This one is obviously the biggest longshot due to cap restraints that the Blackhawks have, but it would be a player worth trading for if Taylor Hall didn’t want to stay in New Jersey.
Patrik Laine
Patrik Laine might be the most intriguing player out of all of the current RFAs looking for a contract. He has gotten his career started off to a torrid start as far as goal scoring, but there are many avenues of his game that need improvement. His 2018-19 season was also pretty bad with all things considered. He still scored 30 goals and had 20 assists for 50 points.
18 of those 30 goals, however, came in the month of November. That means he scored 12 goals in every other month combined. He was as on and off as you can be and it makes it hard to evaluate how big of a contract he deserves. The Winnipeg Jets also probably don’t want to be the team that lets the next Alex Ovechkin go because of one inconsistent year. In his rookie year, he had 36 goals and followed it up with 44 in his second year. Then his 30-goal third season had everyone questioning him.
He might be worth the risk if Taylor Hall decided that he wanted to leave New Jersey. Winnipeg might be willing to deal Laine and if they can get a player of Hall’s caliber in return, despite him being a little older, they might take that on. And for the Devils, if Laine came to a team with guys like Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, and Nikita Gusev, he would most likely thrive. The sky is the limit as far as goal scoring for Laine and coming to a young Devils team might be worth exploring.
Mikko Rantanen
This one is perhaps the biggest longshot of them all, but the Avalanche are going to have to pay Mikko Rantanen a lot of money before the beginning of the season. He is on a line with Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog and as a trio, they have been one of the two best lines in the entire National Hockey League.
This is a player that the Avalanche don’t want to lose and they probably wouldn’t trade him for Hall unless he made it clear he didn’t want to be in Colorado. But the Avalanche know they are going to be really good and Hall might be able to help propel that even more. Hall and MacKinnon were both nominated for the Hart Trophy in 2018 and then they would both be on the same team.
Rantanen had 31 goals and 56 assists for 87 points in 74 games. That is the type of production that could nicely replace Hall if he elected to leave. It would likely be a trade that fits the timeline of both teams, but the Avalanche might need to think twice about trading Rantanen. It would be something to consider though for both teams if each team can’t agree to terms with their guys.
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There is also the threat of Rantanen heading over to the KHL if he and the Avalanche can’t come to terms. Chances are they will do something before that happens, but it is always an option to think about. Some of these options might seem off the wall crazy, but in order for the Devils to make a one for one trade, they are going to want fair value back in return. Hall is an elite, game-breaking type player so they should get one back in return if they ever needed to trade him.