There's always the dreaded "mystery team." And in the case of Taylor Hall's free agency, that was apparently the Buffalo Sabres.
According to multiple reports, Hall is signing with the Sabres after garnering interest from as many as 25 teams over the last few days.
Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman was the first to report that Hall was expected to sign a short-term deal with Buffalo, and TSN's Darren Dreger then confirmed that the deal is for one year and $8 million.
It is a surprising decision by the Hall, to say the least. The 2018 Hart Trophy winner had said he would be prioritizing winning this offseason, as he has only made the playoffs twice in his career.
"I think, honestly, it's probably all winning," Hall said after the season when asked what was going to be most important for him. "Any player at this stage in their career that has had the career that I've had, 10 seasons, only make the playoffs twice, that's really what I'm after. So we'll see what happens there.
"But yeah, I'd say it's pretty much all winning. I don't think the money's going to be what it was maybe before COVID or before the season, but that's fine. I think we get paid a lot of money to play a game, and we'll see what happens."
The Sabres, meanwhile, have not done much winning recently. They went 30-31-8 this past season and missed out on even the expanded 12-team postseason. They have not made the playoffs since 2011.
However, Hall has some familiarity with Buffalo head coach Ralph Krueger, as he played for Krueger in Edmonton -- first when Krueger was an assistant and then in 2012-13 when he was the head coach.
The Sabres also give Hall a chance to play on a line with Jack Eichel, which is certainly tempting regardless of the rest of the team.
By taking a one-year deal, Hall also gives himself an opportunity to make more money next season when the league's financial situation will hopefully be better than it is now.
The Bruins were reportedly among the teams that had shown interest in Hall, with reports earlier Sunday even indicating they were one of the favorites to land him.
It will be interesting to see what the Bruins do now. They could still go after another free agent forward like Mike Hoffman, Evgenii Dadonov or Tyler Toffoli, or they could turn their attention to signing or trading for a defenseman, where they could still use some help after losing Torey Krug to the St. Louis Blues.
