Joel Dorcas | March 26th, 2020
It has been an interesting journey for the former 2010 first overall draft pick. At the height of his tenure with the New Jersey Devils was an MVP season in 2017/2018 where he registered career highs in goals(39), assists(54), and points(93). This was of course followed by the Devils trading the dynamic winger for middling prospects and conditional draft picks to the Arizona Coyotes just two-and-a-half seasons later. All of this taking place after starting his career with the Edmonton Oilers for six seasons starting in 2010. Hall fell out of favor in Edmonton and in Jersey and didn’t hold back his displeasure with each organization on more than one occasion. With a Hart Trophy and two all-star game selections in his back pocket Hall is set to hit the free-agent market this summer. Let’s take a closer look at the 28-year-old native from Calgary Alberta.
Taylor Hall‘s pro career started out guns a blazing as he finished in the league’s top 10 scorers in two out of his first four seasons. 627 games later, Hall has turned himself into a fine scoring winger but perhaps has fallen a bit short of expectations. For his career, he is not quite a point per game player, but 218 goals, 345 assists add up to 563 in 627 games. Really good for someone who has played in more than one season with young inexperienced teams.
Hall is currently in the final season of his seven-year contract that is paying him an annual average yearly salary of six million dollars. This season he has suited up in 65 games scoring 16 goals, 36 assists, and 52 points. Since joining the Coyotes he has put together a modest 27 points(10G, 17A) in 35 games.
So what kind of money will Hall fetch? Is he a 10 million a year player? Based on his production it’s pretty close. A big factor that may stand in the way is the fact that Hall has been injury-prone throughout his 10-year career. Perhaps he will be closer to the nine million per year tag. Some comparable players are Mark Stone of the Knights(8 yrs./$9.5M per), Tyler Seguin DAL(8 yrs./$9.85M per), and Nikita Kucherov TB(8 yrs./$9.5M per).
Hall is way more likely to fetch a higher annual average amount if he hits the open market then if he signs with Arizona who will be tight against the salary cap again next season. The only other player of note whose contract is expiring is 34 years old Carl Soderberg. Soderberg is in the final year of his $4.75M/year contract. He is likely to take a pay cut or hit the open market. Arizona has some good players up front in Nick Schmaltz, Clayton Keller, and Christian Dvorak, signing Hall long-term would do wonders for this organization. They have struggled offensively for far too many years. All the other pieces seem to be in place as they are sound defensively and have almost always had great goaltending. Although they desperately need another scoring winger in their lineup it seems more likely that Hall will sign with another team that is willing to pony up more dough than the Coyotes are willing to spend.
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