New Jersey Devils: Options With Taylor Hall After Disappointing Start

0-4-2

At the time of this writing, our New Jersey Devils are 0-4-2 and reeling after a couple heartbreaking losses and multiple blowouts. Fans are calling for the extremes as they should, including firing John Hynes (which I am absolutely on board with) and trading our best player and MVP, Taylor Hall, to tank one more year before we really get after it in 2020. What options do we have with Taylor at this point in time?

Option 1: Sign Him Immediately

This is the most plausible action assuming Taylor Hall is still interested in resigning with Jersey’s team. He may be turned off due to the weak start, but if we can turn it around in the next week or two, maybe we can prove that he can win here. He enjoys playing with talent such as PK Subban, Jack Hughes, and Nico Hischier and he loves it in NJ. However, the losing is getting to him and he is and should be disappointed.

Should the Devils do all they can to appease Hall? Should they fire Hynes because Hall does not believe in him anymore or trade one player or another just to keep Hall. The eye test says absolutely. Hall has been playing like LeBron James on those old Cleveland teams where he was a one-man wrecking crew. Hall has been playing like a man possessed, but has given up the puck a little too much and the numbers/bounces are not quite there. This is a player who is playing competitive hockey for the first time in 9 months. Give him a short leash, the points will come.

Option 2: Trade Him

Now this is where things get interesting. This past summer we covered what a possible return may be for Hall, but a lot of them were based on a value system and not personable decisions. Hall has one year left on his deal but is still an MVP level player and trading him would bring back a massive return.

What can you expect in return?

Looking back on that aforementioned article, the returns may have been a little weak, but we must take into account that Hall has only one year left. A rental definitely does not deserve as much as say a four-year deal. However, we still wholeheartedly expect a promising young player (most likely on the back end), one or multiple first round picks (depending on the player) and possible mid-round picks as well. In my next article, I’ll do a refined list to determine what trades may still be plausible as well as a couple of dark horses.

Conclusion

All in all, our New Jersey Devils are in rough shape and something needs to change. Whether it is signing Taylor Hall, trading him, or anything else, something has to change the tone in the locker room and the way we play on the ice. Something is broken and one of these two options will need to get done sooner rather than later or it may hang over our heads the first 50 games of the season and doom 2019-2020.