The Arizona Coyotes land a huge prize in 2018 Hart Trophy winner Taylor Hall, while the New Jersey Devils help restock for a rebuild.
Coyotes get: LW Taylor Hall, C Blake Speers
Devils get: D Kevin Bahl, C Nate Schnarr, C Nick Merkley, conditional 2020 first-round pick, conditional 2021 third-round pick
Arizona Coyotes: A
After the Arizona Coyotes just missed the playoffs last spring, there was an urgency within the organization to buck their seven-year postseason drought this season. Things have been looking promising. Top-notch goaltending has Arizona in first place in the Pacific Division, somewhere they haven't been since the 2011-12 season (when they last made the playoffs). Acquiring Taylor Hall -- especially knowing he might only be a rental -- definitely gives the Yotes a better chance of staying on top.
I think back to a conversation I had with Coyotes president Ahron Cohen this summer. "Historically, people have said, 'These guys aren't really spending that much,'" Cohen said. That perception has now changed. GM John Chayka has been making bold moves for a while, but now that new owner Alex Meruelo is officially in the fold, Chayka has the ability to spend a bit more money. After trading for Phil Kessel this summer ($6.8 million cap hit, committed through 2022) Chayka was able to make another splash by acquiring Hall.
What's amazing, though, is that the Coyotes don't have to pay Hall's full $6 million cap hit. New Jersey has committed to paying half of it, which is quite a win (a contingency the Coyotes must have demanded, knowing Hall may walk in free agency).
Nonetheless, let's talk about the impact Hall might bring. There's no doubt he's motivated playing in a contract year, and though his numbers early in the season weren't quite what they were in his 2017-18 MVP campaign, let's remember he was playing on a bad team and was also still recovering from major knee surgery. He should only get better as the season goes on, and he's on a winning team, with whom the games become increasingly important.
The Coyotes were the only team in the NHL not to have a 20-goal scorer last season. They thought bringing in Kessel would change that. Kessel, however, hasn't boosted the Coyotes' power play as expected, and he is averaging only 0.20 goals per game, his lowest rate since his rookie season. Despite leading the Pacific Division, the Coyotes are still struggling to score. Their numbers are up, but they're still in the bottom third of the league.
Kessel could still be due for a second-half surge, and maybe bringing in Hall will alleviate some pressure of having to be "the guy" -- which he has never had to be at any point in his career.
The additions of Kessel and Hall now give the Coyotes two strong locker room presences who could bring out the best in Arizona's cluster of young 20-something forwards who are on the verge of breaking out. And to that point, Arizona didn't have to give up any true NHL roster players in this trade. Nor did they give up their very best prospects. (ESPN's Chris Peters rated the players Arizona gave up as their Nos. 3, 4 and 6 prospects in their system over the summer).
The only thing keeping this from a true A+ is the fact that the Coyotes weren't able to work out an extension with Hall. However, they do get first dibs on a free-agency pitch; consider it a six-month tryout where Hall can see firsthand what it would be like to be a Coyote. Even if he doesn't stay, if Arizona gets into the playoffs -- which will galvanize the fan base -- this will be a win.
New Jersey Devils: C+
Quite frankly, this Devils season has been a disaster. GM Ray Shero wanted to accelerate his team's Stanley Cup window after they won the draft lottery and were able to pick American center Jack Hughes No. 1 overall. Shero made a splash trading for P.K. Subban, then spent $5 million for Wayne Simmonds on a one-year deal and gave up draft picks to acquire Nikita Gusev. This was all supposed to capitalize on Hall's final year in his contract -- and hopefully, convince the 2018 MVP to re-sign, long term.
But then the Devils won nine of their first 26 games. Goaltending was porous. The rest of the team look disjointed and often unprepared. John Hynes was fired earlier this month, and it became increasingly apparent Hall wasn't going to stick around. So for getting this done fairly quickly, we give kudos to Shero for not letting a toxic situation fester and cutting the cord on Hall's tenure early. There will be no more drama surrounding that player.
Even though teams knew Hall would likely be a pure rental -- he has expressed interest in having a John Tavares-level of free-agency courting this summer -- it seems wild that the Devils had to retain 50 percent of his salary.
I commend Shero for getting a quantity of capital in return, especially seeing the lack of depth on the Devils' current NHL roster. Shero not only obtained three prospects but also a first-round pick as well as a third-round pick (with some clever conditions applied; it becomes a second-round pick if Hall re-signs or the Coyotes win a playoff round, and becomes a first-round pick if both of those things happen).
However Shero went for quantity instead of quality. The Devils didn't get either of the Coyotes' top two prospects, per Peters' rankings (Barrett Hayton or Victor Soderstrom). Kevin Bahl is the gem of the group. According to Peters, the 19-year-old defenseman "has trended up in a pretty big way since his draft year and continues progressing. You'll get to see him at the World Juniors for Canada. Excellent mobility for a player of his size. His development arc provides a lot of intrigue for what he can ultimately be."
However, we likely won't be seeing Bahl -- or any of the players acquired in this deal -- for some time at the NHL level. That signals New Jersey is open to starting another rebuild.
It's a bummer things ultimately didn't work out for Hall in New Jersey, but we'll always have that one season when he won the MVP and willed the Devils to the playoffs -- and the infamous tweet from Bob McKenzie that began his time with the franchise. Otherwise, his tenure will largely be seen as unmemorable. And it ends quite anticlimactically.