New Jersey Devils: Taylor Hall Contract Negotiation Progression
On April 8th, 2019 Matt Loughlin the New Jersey Devils radio announcer spoke with Taylor Hall about a contract extension with Ray Shero. The monologue from Matt Loughlin is actually very optimistic. This portion pre-dates the Jack Hughes to Nikita Gusev pickups.
Loughlin reported: “Hall says that a conversation regarding an extension will wait for now. Wants to listen to what Ray and ownership has to say. Will also talk with his family and representatives. But has enjoyed/does enjoy his time here.”
Five months later with pre-season camp and preseason about to start, Mike Morreale put out “Taylor Hall will continue to negotiate a contract with the Devils during training camp.“
From what has been harvested between Matt Loughlin back in April and Mike Morreale’s recent reporting indicate that Taylor Hall is more than likely to re-sign with the New Jersey Devils. It’s very hard to just not get an extension after what Ray Shero has done to apply big quantities of highly effective players like a Jack Hughes, Nikits Gusev, Wayne Simmonds, and P.K. Subban all in one summer.
If you are the New Jersey Devils management like Ray Shero, Tommy Fitzgerald, and Managing partners Joshua Harris and David Blitzer, you’d be willing to pay Taylor Hall big money to help grow the team the next 6-8 years. Devils fans over the years are sick and tired of the Zach Parise types leaving for Minnesota, and a retiring Ilya Kovalchuk to put a dagger and back breaker for the fan base as a whole.
Having talked with Devils fans over the years and read up on what their opinions are they feel more confident in Ray Shero. Ray’s abilities to get things done are very positive for fans, writers, and a growing hockey market in New Jersey.
Having Taylor Hall re-signed long term would mean that Nikita Gusev, Jesper Bratt, maybe Jesper Boqvist, and Blake Coleman will have more certainty playing their line combinations. Taylor Hall has been a very “unstoppable force” coined by Steve Cangialosi. If this “unstoppable force” signs an extension for around $11.5 million dollars, this would be a sweet deal for Hall and his family going forward. By the way expect a Taylor Hall contract to come with a No Movement and No-Trade Clause to certain teams. Obviously Ray isn’t Lou Lamoriello liberally tossing NMV and NTC clauses that ended up hampering this team.
“There are different stages of negotiation and at some point, [Hall’s] going to play for us and then we’ll sort it out,” Devils GM Ray Shero said. “Whether he’s signed, we’ll see. I look forward to sitting down with him and seeing him back on the ice with us, which will be great. I know he’s looking forward to that, too. Ideally, we wanted to give him space this summer anyway, training wise. We’ve made some additions to try and improve our hockey team and hopefully Taylor will be a big part of this in the future.”
If Taylor does end up signing a long-term extension with the New Jersey Devils, don’t be surprised to see Ray Shero make a trade or a move to open up more cap space with so many forwards on this team. This brings the possibility of Shero bringing in a really solid top-two pairing left handed defenseman.
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Most NHL pundits have the Devils as a playoff bubble team, and with a trade to bring in a young solid lefty defender it would be super beneficial to have a guy who can help Will Butcher play his offensive-defenseman style, and allow Ty Smith to ease into the NHL and gain more experience because he has come a long way in one season. Lets not forget Andy Greene is on his last season of his contract. If Greene ends up leaving you still have near $5 million to hand extra to Nico Hischier, plus any trades or other departures of players that don’t fit into the 2020-2021 roster.
Taylor Hall did just tweet our “Playoffs or Bust” well here’s what Hall needs to know. 1) Stay healthy 2) Help your teammates along each game 3) Be a leader 4) Show the fans and the attending media that you are committed near and long term.
New Jersey is not Edmonton. The Devils have guys like Jesper Boqvist and Nikita Gusev that will proudly take your spot if you want out. If Hall wants to be a distraction like that, then Ray Shero knows he will make a trade happen that will help benefit the Devils in gaining several assets versus none. Honestly after hearing the rumors of Hall possibly leaving is plain annoying. But Ray Shero certainly knows how to turn players into assets so look at Ray Shero going forward this 2019-2020 season.
Ray Shero has no time to play games with a player that isn’t committed to the near and long term, but with young guys like Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, Jesper Boqvist, and a KHL super star winger like Nikita Gusev they know what it takes to win. These guys are committed to the crest that has “NJ” on the front and they will make sure a guy like Hall gets to the playoffs, and hopefully one day be hoisting that Stanley Cup as number 4 in franchise history in the near and long run.