The Edmonton Oilers have traded star forward Taylor Hall to the New Jersey Devils in a 0ne-for-one deal for Adam Larsson reports Bob McKenzie of TSN.ca.
Trade is one for one: Adam Larsson for Taylor Hall.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) June 29, 2016
Trading Hall is certainly a bold move by the Oilers. Hall is among the upper-echelon of talented forwards in the game today. He posted 26 goals and 65 points last season in 82 games and has hit the 25-goal mark once before. The 24-year-old does an excellent job driving play and generating shot attempts. On the Devils, he’s got the chance to be the legit number one scoring option and should see a sizable uptick in his scoring numbers. Hall shot a fairly low 9.1 percent, so expect him to hit the 30-goal mark next season. He’s got a reasonable four years at $6 million left on his deal.
Larsson established himself as a good defenseman with the Devils last season after a slow start to his career. He averaged 22 minutes a game, playing tough defensive minutes (leading the Devils with a 44.1 DZFO%) and chipping in with 15 points. The 23-year-old has the potential to fill out top-line minutes for the Oilers, but doesn’t contribute enough offensively to be a true number one. Larsson has five seasons left at $4.16 million per season.
The deal absolutely stinks if you’re an Oilers fan. While Larsson is a fine NHL defenseman, it’s extremely low value for someone as young, skilled and affordable as Hall. Hall should be getting a package back that is phenomenal and brings back multiple NHL quality players. This deal did not accomplish that.
Ray Shero should be counting his lucky stars that the Oilers were this desperate for a defenseman because getting Hall for Larsson is grand larceny.
