Well, it was pretty much inevitable at this point, right?
From the winners of the offseason to the cellar dwellers in the Metropolitan Division, it looks as though the 2019-20 Devils are finally ready to wave the white flag.
After months of speculation, the Devils appear to be just about ready to part ways with star winger and 2018 Hart Trophy winner Taylor Hall — with the team opting to hold the 28-year-old forward out of Friday’s matchup against the Avalanche for “precautionary” reasons, along with Saturday's game against Arizona.
In other words, he gone — with the Devils looking to retool their roster around youngsters like Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes going forward.
Hall, who has scored six goals and posted 25 points through 30 games this year, could very well be donning a new sweater in the next couple of days, with Pierre LeBrun noting that there has already been some major traction in talks between the Devils and other clubs.
For a team looking to put itself over the top, you can’t go wrong with Hall — who has the tools to transform a top-six unit and a track record that includes six campaigns with 20+ tallies.
Would the Bruins — still without a solution to David Krejci’s right and sputtering across all over their middle six — be interested? Well, duh.
But given the cost involved, Hall’s expected major payday this summer as an unrestricted free agent, Boston’s cap constraints and the B’s preference of not shearing NHL contributors off of its roster in an in-season deal, a trade for the star forward seems unlikely — especially with teams boasting both cap space and assets like Colorado and Arizona lurking.
Still, even if the Bruins don’t win the Hall sweepstakes, that doesn’t mean that the Ray Shero shouldn’t expect plenty of calls from Don Sweeney and Co. in the coming weeks.
Hall might be the first domino to fall when it comes to New Jersey’s rebuild (or retooling), but he won’t be the last.
It would seem likely that the Devils will part ways with defenseman Sami Vatanen, also in the last year of his contract, while Wayne Simmonds could also be on the move, although his value has been sub-optimal (12 points in 31 games).
But if Shero wants to really overhaul this roster, there stands a chance that the likes of Kyle Palmieri and others could be available for the right price.
The Bruins, for as much as they’d want to keep tabs on the trade market — especially at RW — are hamstrung in some areas.
Boston’s cap situation will likely preclude them from making big splashes, given that the B’s are right up against the cap ceiling, with Kevan Miller’s LTIR designation currently allowing the club to surpass the limit of $81.5 million by about $1.5 million.
Given that Boston would already likely have to shuffle around their roster if Miller was eventually taken off LTIR, the Bruins don’t really have a lot of wiggle room to work with this season.
Of course, there are ways to free up cap space, although it would lead to a hectic couple of days for Sweeney and Co. Waiving a player like Brett Ritchie ($1 million cap hit) would help some (but not enough, obviously), while Boston could always look to see if a team with cap room might be willing to take David Backes’ contract if a couple of costly sweeteners are looped in on the deal.
John Moore ($2.75 million cap hit through 2023) is another candidate, although Boston would likely want to build his value up after missing the two months of the season while recovering from shoulder surgery.
But if Boston is able to put itself in position to be a buyer in this year’s trade market, Hall is a far from the only target on the Devils.
While Hall, when healthy, is an all-world player, it would seem unlikely that he’d remain in Boston beyond this year. Yes, Boston has some money to play around with next year, but not much if Hall commands $9-10 million annually on a new deal. Even if Boston is willing to include picks and blue-chip prospects like an Urho Vaakanainen in a deal for Hall, one would think that the Devils would want to hold out for an NHL piece, such as a Jake DeBrusk or Anders Bjork. Ideally, Boston would not want to chip away at the young talent already contributing up on the NHL roster — creating even more holes for Sweeney to address.
So, if Hall is out of equation, why not Palmieri?
If Boston is in search of offense on the wing, it can’t go wrong with the 28-year-old forward, who is on pace for 29 goals and 50 points this season — and has averaged 26.7 goals per season since arriving in New Jersey back in 2015.
Boston will need to clear some cap space to accommodate Palmieri’s $4.65-million hit this year, but the New Jersey winger, similar to Charlie Coyle last season, does offer the Bruins some security in that he’s under contract for another season with the same cap hit that’s well within market value for his level of production.
While the Bruins would still have to give up picks and prospects to acquire a player like Palmieri, one would think that the cost would be a bit less than what the asking price for Hall will be, even with that extra year on Palmieri’s contract.
Yes, if the Bruins really want to be active on the trade market, they’re going to have to jump through quite a few hoops. But even if Hall packs his bags and heads to a club like Colorado or Arizona, Palmieri stands as a more-than-suitable consolation prize, and could thrive if put in a top-six role with Boston. The trade winds are picking up very, very early this season.
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