Spoiler alert: I really liked the trade when it happened and it's worked out just as I had hoped. Of late, I'd say it's looking even better than I had hoped.
The Taylor Hall we have seen in black and gold over the last handful of games is looking like the player the NHL expected to get when he was drafted one spot ahead of the Bruins selection of Tyler Seguin as the top pick in the 2010 NHL Draft.
Hall's play has solidified the Bruins second line, which has seemingly been something they have always needed to address throughout most of my lifetime. At least since the 1980's. Finally, the Bruins have two formidable scoring lines that can stack up against any teams' top two lines in the NHL. That's not hyperbole, their team scoring prowess is now legit.
Hall has already made a significant impact to this 2021 Bruins team. As the B's sit as the third-seed in the Eastern Conference, just three days away from what promises to be a tough grind of a series versus the Capitals, Hall passes the ultimate test. The Bruins are better now than they were 16 games ago. For a team with Stanley Cup aspirations, that's exactly what you want.
The acquisition of Hall to the Bruins got me thinking in a historical context, because that's how much of an impact his presence on the Bruins has made. He's amassed 14 points (8 goals & 6 assists) in 16 games. His plus/minus is plus-15 and he has legitimized the Bruins second line. This trade deadline acquisition has mattered to both the Bruins and Hall.
Here are some other notable deadline deals in Boston sports history to measure against ...
Bruins
March 8, 1988 was a happy day for me. The Bruins nabbed one of my favorite non-Bruins' of the time, goaltender Andy Moog. Moog made an instant impact as the Bruins smartly implemented a two goalie system with incumbent Reggie Lemelin. As the 1988 playoffs wore on, Moog's star began to shine as he eventually took over the top job. Lemelin was 'Mr. April' but in short order the theme became 'Moog in May.' The deadline deal for Moog with the world beating Edmonton Oilers vaulted the Bruins all the way to the Stanley Cup Final, one they would lose in a four game sweep to those very same Oilers. Moog's impact was instantaneous and lasted for a solid five-plus years, including a return to the Cup Finals in 1990. He was a great Bruin and one of the most impactful deadline acquisitions in this town's history. That is until his nonsensical trade to Minnesota/Dallas for the sieve-like John Casey. As happy as I was on 3/8/88, I was equally as miserable on that dark 1993 day.
On February 7, 1992 the Bruins acquired a Hockey Hall of Famer, right at the apex of his career. Harry Sinden hoodwinked the St. Louis Blues sending the promising but never quite achieving Craig Janney along with the gritty Stephane Quintal for Adam Oates. Wow. The Bourque-Neely-Moog-Oates Bruins never made the Cup but Oates made the kind of offensive impact you dream about, tallying 30 points in his first 26 games. Brought into set the table for Cam Neely, Oates poured in 142 points of his own in his first full year in Boston, good for third in the NHL in scoring, including a league leading 97 assists. He would add another 112 points the next season and goes down as one of the most productive deadline acquisitions ever seen in this town.
Despite all the frustration Harry Sinden caused during the Bourque/Neely years for never going all the way in, you have to give him credit for those two deals. He nailed those for sure. Hall could have the kind of impact that Moog and Oates provided too. He's that kind of top pedigree talent and more importantly, is producing at a high level.
The 2011 Stanley Cup Championship Bruins had been a developing team for a few years. They had a young and growing core we are still enjoying today but needed an infusion of NHL veteran presence to elevate to the next level. That process started at the 2009 deadline with the acquisition of Mark Recchi and again at the next deadline with the deal for Dennis Seidenberg. A Stanley Cup Champion, Recchi became an instant leader. Seidenberg would co-anchor the top defensive pairing in the NHL with future Hall of Famer Zdeno Chara. All for a bunch of forgettable names like Byron Bitz, Craig Weller, Martins Karsums and Matt Lashoff. Otherwise known as the Law Firm of Bitz, Weller, Karsums and Lashoff. Rolls off the tongue nearly as easily as they did our minds. A Stanley Cup Championship will do that. Two great deadlines deals by then GM, Peter Chiarelli.
The Best of the rest:
11/1/12 – The Patriots acquire Aqib Talib from Tampa Bay for a 4thround pick. Do you think Brady would've let that happen on the 2020 Bucs? No matter, because when Brady was carrying a Patriots team on offense while its defense was in transition, Talib was a welcome deadline addition for a secondary desperate for help. The deal could've been for two second round picks and it still would've been well worth it. I think this was Bill Belichick's finest deadline move.
2/19/15 – The Celtics acquire Isaiah Thomas for Marcus Thornton and a conditional 2016 pick from Phoenix. Thank you Phoenix. As we labor through the grind that has been the 2020-2021 Celtics season, just seeing IT's name makes me feel better. Talk about impact. IT took an exactly average and young Celtics team all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2017. Then at the height of his value, IT was flipped for a legitimate Top 10 NBA player in Kyrie Irving . Kyrie didn't work out in Boston, but both the play and the plan from the date of IT's acquisition, to his eventual trade out of town was a stroke of pure genius by Danny Ainge. I miss those days and miss those once savvy and bold moves by Ainge. It's been far too long since we've seen action like that coming from the Celtics.
7/31/04 – The Red Sox send Nomar Garciaparra to the Chicago Cubs for Orlando Cabrera and Doug Mientkiewicz from the Minnesota Twins. Sometimes it's more about who moves out than it is who moves in and in 2004 that was the case. Nomar was great but the time had come. This deal goes down as one of the boldest moves ever made and it was done by a young, 30 year old GM, Theo Epstein. The rest is history on this one and it was the Nomar trade that fueled this unforgettable World Series Championship season.
Will the Taylor Hall trade deadline acquisition make history and help the Bruins bring home the hardware? Nobody knows, but it could and that's why this trade is in the conversation. In every one of these examples, each team improved dramatically after the deal was made. Same goes for the Bruins in what was a low risk, high reward deal that GM Don Sweeney made based on a vision of what could be.
Bottom line, the Bruins are better and are now real contenders since the move for Hall was made. As for history? The Bruins will determine their own fate, but as for Trade Deadline deals, the Hall trade definitely stacks up.
