Living in the Boston area, I hear a lot of talk about the Bruins, and almost none about the Edmonton Oilers. That has changed these last few days however, as focus has shifted towards the Edmonton Oilers on some talk shows in Boston, well more specifically to Oilers forward Taylor Hall and his rumored availability.
The Felger and Mazz show, which airs on 98.5 the Sports Hub from 2-6, has talked about the Bruins needing to make a massive deal, and show host Mike Felger has talked quite a bit about the prospect of snagging a guy like Hall, who Boston could use in a massive way. On Wednesday night, Felger said on CSNNE’s Early Edition show that he believes the rumors are true and that the sides could be talking.
It’s very well possible they are talking, in fact I believe it too, I think they might be discussing something, but I think people need to realize, the Oilers are in no rush to trade Taylor Hall, and won’t be just dumping Taylor Hall for anything.
Hall Is A Beast:
Taylor Hall is stuck on a terrible hockey team that is, for all intents and purposes, a tire fire. We know that, and this comes as no surprise. The thing is, people around the NHL just assume because the Oilers are overrated and suck, that Taylor Hall is overrated. That couldn’t be further from the truth to be honest.
Taylor Hall is a franchise player, a guy you can build around moving forward. He’s arguably the best left winger in hockey, and makes the Oilers better when he is out there. Seriously, if you look at the stats, it isn’t even close, the Oilers are AHL-level when Hall isn’t on the ice.
Taylor Hall is a guy who will be hitting 80 points a season in his prime, and is a guy that should be a 30 goal scorer every single year once he gets to those valuable prime years. Hall scored 80 points in just 75 games last season, a remarkable amount for a guy that plays on such a bad hockey club.
The Oilers Needs:
This one is setting the stage for my next topic, but the Oil have a ton of needs. According to thefourthperiod.com, the Oilers are looking for a ton of different things right now, as they should be. A top-six center, a bottom-six defensive winger, a defensive center for the bottom-six, a physical stay-at-home defender, a top-pairing defender and a number one goalie are all listed as wants by the team. From watching every game this season, this list looks about right to me.
Edmonton needs help in a ton of areas, and while they have a nice skeleton, they need the meat on those bones. This is that meat that can make them competitive. It’s a lot of pieces, but it’s the reality of the situation.
Why Did You Pick The Bruins?:
Easy, the Bruins are the team making the most noise for Hall right now. We know Boston badly needs scoring, and we know, by their standards, the Bruins are underachieving this season, currently sitting outside of a playoff spot in the east. Pierre LeBrun mentioned the Bruins many times as a team that would show “intense” interest in Hall, and many people around the city in the sports talk world are talking about this. There is A LOT of smoke in this regard.
Not to mention, the Bruins and Oilers have been talking on and off since the summer, that we know as a fact.
The Asking Price:
Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet was on sports radio WGR 550 in Buffalo on Wednesday and said that if Hall is to get moved, it would be for a “franchise changing player”, part of a move that would make you say “Ah, I understand”. That means don’t expect a trade that looks like the Tyler Seguin trade from the summer of 2013. The Oilers aren’t moving Taylor Hall for “ponies”, they simply can’t.
Looking at the list of wants, we can suspect the Oilers would be interested in a few players from Boston. For centers, David Krejci certainly fills that top-two role, while Carl Soderberg fits that as well. Tuukka Rask, who has been thrown around in rumors out here in Boston, absolutely fits the goalie description, and would be Edmonton’s best goalie since Curtis Joseph, yes Cujo, left town over a decade ago.
As for defenders, Adam McQuaid fits that shut-down defender role, but he’s a number four at best, and won’t be at the center of a Taylor Hall trade. As for a top-pairing defender, the Oilers will have their eyes set on one man, no not Zdeno Chara, rather young Dougie Hamilton, Boston’s 2011 first round draft choice.
There are a few different packages that could work here between Boston and Edmonton. One surrounded around Rask could be Tuukka and pending UFA Carl Soderberg, giving Edmonton a second line center and an elite starting goalie. Another could be Dougie Hamilton and a pick for Hall, and a third could be David Krejci, Adam McQuaid and a draft choice for the Kingston Cannonball.
Thing is, for Edmonton fans, the Hamilton package and the Krejci package wouldn’t be enough, while for Bruins fans, all three packages look like too much. It’s a fine line, and a tough one to walk. That said, as fans, we all overvalue the players on our team, and can’t really say what package is fair or not.
The Bottom Line:
I’d be stunned, absolutely FLOORED, if Edmonton traded Taylor Hall this season. A move like this is just far too big to make during the season, and teams almost never get full value on major trades during the year. This is the kind of trade that happens in the off-season, likely on the draft floor. That said, I’m starting to doubt that the Oilers will trade Hall period. He’s their franchise player, the face of this once proud team.
IF, and that’s a big if, the Oilers do decide to trade Taylor Hall, I do think that Boston will be at the forefront of talks. The thing is, however, that it will cost Boston more than Chris Kelly, more than Loui Eriksson. The Oilers aren’t going to trade their horse for a few ponies, it would be for a key contributor. Is Boston willing to give that player up? I have my doubts.
The Oilers can’t afford to screw this Hall situation up, and have to hold out for maximum value. Will Boston bend on it? That’s going to tell the tale of this story.
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