This season’s most talked about rental has finally found a home, as the Boston Bruins turned from their 8-1 defeat tonight and will Taylor Hall of the Buffalo Sabers according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman John Buccigross from ESPN was the first to suggest a deal on Twitter (in a pretty entertaining way). Darren Dreger of TSN reports that the deal will be Hall and injured forward Curtis Lazar in front of Otherwise Bjork and a second round pick. According to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, the Sabers kept 50% of Hall’s $ 8 million limit through the end of this season.
Hall was in full control of this process as he had a clause stating that he could not move and block a trade for any team in the league. He decided to forgo that clause to go to Boston. David Pagnotta from The Fourth Period notes that the New York Islanders and Washington Capitals were also in the running earlier in the day. The fact that the Sabers failed to secure a first round for Hall will be the takeaway for Buffalo fans, but Hall is in the midst of a brutal season. While you can’t forget that he was the league’s MVP in 2018, you can’t ignore the fact that he only scored two goals in 37 appearances for the Sabers this year.
Still, giving up just a second and Bjork, who has only two goals this season, is a no-brainer for the Bruins, with their eyes on the post-season twist. If Hall can find any semblance of his former self in Boston, he can make a difference on the second line, by giving the team a secondary score they haven’t had for so long.
Bjork has established himself as an NHL player with good defensive skills, but turns 25 later this summer and has just 39 points in 138 regular season games. A major factor in this is that he will be under contract for a reasonable $ 1.6 million during the 2022-23 season, but it’s not like he will have a huge impact on the rebuilding of Sabers. In fact, you could argue that Lazar can deliver about the same value if he’s healthy and under contract until the next season for just $ 800,000. Relocating Bjork by tomorrow’s deadline does not seem out of the question whether the Sabers can find an interested party.
The Bruins are also taking in $ 4 million in cap, which is much higher than some of the other names moved recently. The fact that they can take that blow is why Hall’s price is so low, because they didn’t have to involve another team, which would have meant they gave up on another asset. Even without going into long-term injured reserve, the Bruins should have just enough room to fit in Hall after sending Bjork the other way.
Ultimately, this deal won’t mean anything to Boston if Hall can’t find his form. The team has taken swings on high-profile wingers before and had them wrestling all over, but Hall will certainly be surrounded by more talent in his new dressing room. In all likelihood, the 29-year-old winger will only get his third chance in the postseason this year, although that’s not even a guarantee at the moment. Boston is now only four points ahead of the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers for fourth place in the East Division (although they have two games in hand), meaning Hall has to contribute right away if he wants to do it again taste the playoffs.
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