Taylor Hall has played in the league for 10 years, but has appeared in a total of 14 playoff games. Despite being one of the top unrestricted free agents on the market, there are plenty of rumors that Hall is hoping for a big payday, but more than anything, the forward wants to play on a winner. With a flat salary cap coming this year, the Denver Post’s Mike Chambers writes that Hall might be willing to accept a one-year deal with a team like the Colorado Avalanche to play on a winning team and then test the free-agent market in a year, hopefully after the COVID-19 concerns have lightened up.
With the league being hit hard due to the coronavirus, most teams are reconsidering spending big when a flat cap could be a given for not just next year, but potentially the next few years. That isn’t good news for someone like Hall, who was looking to ink a long-term deal and with most of the top teams already close to being capped out, his goal of playing for a top team seems even more unlikely now.
However, Chambers writes that Hall is considering signing a one-year deal and Colorado is a team that makes the most sense as they are already one of the top teams in the league and the Avalanche have the cap space (approximately $21.5M to spend) to at least offer a short-term deal. While the team’s top needs include a goaltender and some bottom-line toughness, but a top-six forward could be a great addition, especially on their second line. Hall might be the perfect fit alongside Nazem Kadri and restricted free agent Andre Burakovsky to form a second dominant line behind the Nathan MacKinnon–Mikko Rantanen–Gabriel Landeskog line.
Colorado general manager Joe Sakic seriously considered trading for Hall in December when the New Jersey Devils were shopping him. However, they decided against it, mainly because of the likely asking price and term that Hall would likely demand once his contract ran out at the end of the year. The team currently has plenty of cap space to work with, but the team will have to work out long-term deals for defenseman Cale Makar and Landeskog next year and still have to sign a number of restricted free agents this year, including Burakovsky and Adam Graves.
If Colorado can get Hall on a one-year deal, then the team shouldn’t lose long-term cap space as well as they can see what kind of fit Hall is on their team. Since winning the Hart Trophy back in 2017-18, Hall has not been able to duplicate that type of season. He struggled with injuries in 2018-19, playing just 33 games and then struggled between New Jersey and the Arizona Coyotes with 16 goals and 52 points in 65 games.
More must-reads: