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New Jersey Devils: Don’t Overreact To Elliotte Friedman’s Opinion On Taylor Hall

By Nick Villano

CALGARY, AB - NOVEMBER 07: New Jersey Devils Left Wing Taylor Hall (9) looks on between whistles during the second period of an NHL game where the Calgary Flames hosted the New Jersey Devils on November 7, 2019, at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, AB. (Photo by Brett Holmes/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
CALGARY, AB - NOVEMBER 07: New Jersey Devils Left Wing Taylor Hall (9) looks on between whistles during the second period of an NHL game where the Calgary Flames hosted the New Jersey Devils on November 7, 2019, at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, AB. (Photo by Brett Holmes/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman gave his opinion on the Taylor Hall situation, and it wasn’t good for the New Jersey Devils. However, he made it clear this wasn’t based on sources and just his opinion on Darren Ferris’ past dealings.

We knew what this season was going to be about when Taylor Hall didn’t sign a long-term extension. We knew that everyone, especially Canadian media, was going to say Hall was as good as gone. Now that the Devils have gotten off to a horrendous start, people have their pitchforks and sticks on fire ready to bring to the Prudential Center to send Hall away from the New Jersey Devils.

That’s exactly what happened when Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman went said during a Hockey Night In Canada segment on Saturday. 

"“I think it’s up to Ray Shero who is going to have to decide what the Devils’ course of action here is going to be, because I think it’s very unlikely (Hall) agrees to sign with them during the year.”"

To be clear, Friedman is one of the most connected guys in the sport. If there’s a scoop out there, it goes to Friedman or Bob McKenzie. Maybe someone told him something we don’t know, and that’s where he is getting his information from. However, he said himself he made this determination based on Darren Ferris’ previous negotiations. A lot of Toronto media people are scarred by the Mitch Marner negotiations.

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Look at Ferris’ client list. It’s Hall, Marner and then everyone else. It’s a huge drop off after those two. His next best contract after Hall is Zach Bogosian.

Let’s look deeper at the negotiations of Ferris. He could have let his client Andreas Athanasiou of the Detroit Red Wings get to arbitration, where he would likely make more money, but he signed a two-year deal right before the July 5th deadline. Bogosian signed his contract with the Winnipeg Jets for seven years. It was a good deal for him since he was a middle of the pack defenseman that is now making over $5 million per season.

The point here is this: Friedman was giving his honest opinion on the situation, but based on Ferris’ client list, Marner is the only one where we see a long, drawn-out process where a player waited until the last possible moment. Ferris hasn’t been in this specific position in a long time, where he had a major client in the last season going into unrestricted free agency. There is no precedent here, so unfortunately we just have to wait and see what happens.

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