The Bruins' trade deadline deal for Taylor Hall has worked out about as well as anyone could've hoped so far.
After scoring just two goals in 37 games with Buffalo, Hall has registered eight goals and six assists in 16 games with Boston. The new-look second line of him, David Krejci and Craig Smith has been dominant, with the Bruins outscoring opponents 13-1 at five-on-five with the three of them on the ice.
The Bruins and their fans are thrilled with what they've seen from Hall so far, and Hall has spoken very highly of his time in Boston, calling these last 16 games "some of the most enjoyable hockey I've ever played in my career."
So, the natural next question is whether Hall's time in Boston will extend beyond this season. The 29-year-old is an unrestricted free agent after the season and could be in line for a big payday given the way he's turned his game around with the Bruins.
Especially if the playoffs go well -- for both the team as a whole and Hall individually -- there will be mutual interest in extending this relationship. As with any negotiation, it will obviously come down to how close they are on years and money.
Talking to the media via Zoom on Wednesday, Bruins president Cam Neely weighed in on the possibility of extending Hall.
"As far as Taylor goes, we're going to continue to see how things go with the playoffs here," Neely said. "I think we'd like to try and get something done. That remains to be seen, but that's our hope."
While there could be some temptation to try to get something done now and not even wait until after the playoffs, this is generally a tough time to try to negotiate contracts, and it's even more difficult this year with the Seattle Kraken expansion draft coming up after the season.
If the Bruins were to extend Hall or anyone else now, they'd have to then protect them from Seattle, which would mean exposing another player they might currently be planning to protect. Letting Hall get to free agency is a risk of its own, but the Bruins and Hall's camp could be in close communication and potentially have a "handshake deal" in place that doesn't get announced until after the expansion draft.
Neely acknowledged that Hall's impact has been significant, though.
"I think mainly it really solidified some more depth in the offensive position of need," Neely said. "We're getting a little bit more production five-on-five. Now teams are looking not just at the Bergeron line, but they have to look at Krejci's line and even Coyle, Kuraly, Ritchie -- those guys have chipped in recently. And our fourth line, adding Lazar, we've got a number of players that can slot in and out there that are going to give us energy and hopefully chip in a little bit as well."
