Taylor Hall is expected to be one of the biggest-named players available when the NHL Free Agency period opens on Friday at 12 p.m. ET. The former Hart Trophy winner in 2018 is set to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason after failing to re-sign with the Arizona Coyotes.
While the Buffalo Sabres may not be big players when free agency opens on Friday, TSN hockey insider Darren Dreger said that they expect to be one of a number of teams to make their pitch to Hall.
"Buffalo is on the list of teams that are expected to talk and present to Taylor Hall," Dreger said with Andrew Peters, Craig Rivet and Martin Biron on The Instigators on WGR. "Where Buffalo is on Taylor Hall's list? We will find out probably within the next few hours. That's interesting to me. That doesn't tell me that the Buffalo Sabres are a team here that are just simply cutting payroll and is going to roll over here."
Hall started his 2019-20 season with the New Jersey Devils, where he put up 25 points (6+19) in 30 games before being traded to Arizona on Dec. 16. The 28-year-old produced well with the Coyotes with 27 points (10+17) in 35 games before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the regular season on March 12.
However, the Coyotes did qualify for the NHL's Return To Play plan in August and managed to surprise the Nashville Predators in the Qualification Round. In the Quarterfinal Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Arizona managed to grab a game from the Colorado Avalanche, but were eliminated in five games.
In Arizona's nine games in the 2020 postseason, Hall performed well with two goals and four assists for six points.
While Dreger reports that the Sabres are expected to make their pitch to Hall's camp about potentially signing in Buffalo, he believes that the chances of Hall landing with the Sabres are not the greatest.
"Buffalo would be among at least 10 teams that are likely going to express some interest in Taylor Hall... I'm not putting Buffalo on the top-five of that list as a prime contender for Taylor Hall. I'm not saying that they've go no chance, because my understanding is that Buffalo is among those teams that are expected to express interest today."
Where the Sabres may have an advantage with attracting Hall is with head coach Ralph Krueger. Hall spoke highly of his former head coach in Edmonton when speaking with Lance Lysowski from The Buffalo News back in December, saying that he really enjoyed playing for him with the Oilers.
In his only other season as a head coach in the NHL, Krueger led the Oilers to a 19-22-7 record in the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season. He was fired following that season as part of some organizational changes in Edmonton at the time. In that season, Hall scored 16 goals and registered 24 assists for 50 points in 45 games.
Hall's best season in the NHL came in the 2017-18 season with the Devils, when he set career-high marks in goals (39), assists (54) and points (93) en route to winning the Hart Trophy as the league's Most Valuable Player.
Overall in his career, Hall has played in 627 games with the Oilers, Devils and Coyotes, scoring 218 goals and racking up 345 assists for 563 points.
As for what Hall is going to do in free agency this offseason, Dreger says that he will have some options with his next contract.
"I think there's going to be some very creative opportunities for him, and you;re going to find out whether he's looking for long-term security and the money that comes with it, or he's willing to buy in to a more futuristic approach, or he wants to win now and he's willing to take a short-term deal and then roll the dice on a longer term deal after that. Taylor Hall, among the heavy hitters going into free agency today, is going to be among the more intriguing, I would say."
Hall was making an average annual value of $6 million in his last deal when he re-signed with the Edmonton Oilers back in August of 2012. It is likely that the former first overall pick in the 2010 NHL Draft of Edmonton is going to make more than that when he signs his new deal this offseason.
The Sabres are currently sitting with more than $30 million of salary cap space as of Friday, but still have a number of their own restricted free agents to re-sign like Victor Olofsson, Sam Reinhart, Brandon Montour and Linus Ullmark. The team is also continuing to try and re-sign forward Dominik Kahun to a new deal after electing to not extend a qualifying offer to him on Wednesday.
You can listen to Dreger's entire interview with The Instigators below:
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