Taylor Hall would like a contract extension with the Boston Bruins, even if the starwinger doesn’t want to be the “centerpiece” of his new team.
The Bruins traded for the 29-year-old left wing on Sunday, sending a second-round pick and forward Anders Bjork to the Buffalo Sabers in 2021 for Hall and center Curtis Lazar. Hall will become an unrestricted free agent after this season.
“I’d really like to be a Bruin for a few years,” said Hall. “It has clearly been a bad year for me personally, and I have to play well. I have to play my part. Above all, I want to be part of a team that wins games. I really believe we can do that here.”
Hall was the NHL MVP in the 2017-18 season, but is struggling to reach those heights again. After failing to secure the long-term contract he was seeking as a free agent last low season – the Bruins were among his suitors – Hall signed a one-year $ 8 million deal with the Sabers. The team struggled enormously and so did Hall: although he has 17 assists, he has only scored two goals in 37 games this season.
“I am not the most confident hockey player. There have been many struggles throughout the year, and it is clear that scoring goals was one of them. I need to recover that part of my game,” he said.
The Sabers informed Hall that he would be traded weeks before Monday’s deadline. His contract contains a full movement ban clause. While Hall declined to indicate whether he had turned down other trade destinations, he admitted that trade defense helped focus the Sabers’ efforts on a deal with Boston, a place he always wanted to play.
“Sure, the no-move really helped me get to Brown. Knowing I was going to be traded for the past few weeks, it was a team I really wanted to join,” he said.
One of the reasons he wanted to end up in Boston: that it wouldn’t be “Taylor Hall’s team.” The veteran winger said he wanted to play on a team that had other stars to take the spotlight, allowing him to focus on helping him win.
“I’ve been the center of many teams in my career,” he said. “I never put myself at the center of the situations I found myself in. The first chance I got in Free Agency went to Buffalo, a team with a man in Jack Eichel, a player who I think is better than myself. I just wanted to be one of the guys, I wanted to be on a successful team.
“In the end it didn’t work out in Buffalo. But when I go to Boston there are so many great players on that team. Hall of Famers. When I see these guys, I’m excited to be part of that group and just one of them. the guys. I don’t expect to come in and set the competition on fire. I want to win games. “