Arizona Coyotes
Arizona Coyotes Leading Pack for Taylor Hall
The Arizona Coyotes are now believed to be the frontrunners in a deal to acquire winger Taylor Hall.
According to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet, “We believe the Arizona Coyotes are the frontrunners to land Hall in a trade from New Jersey.” Ok, where did that come from?
The Coyotes were always rumored to have interest in Hall, but to say they were anywhere close as a team like the Colorado Avalanche or even the Edmonton Oilers wouldnt have been easy to believe. Yet, the cast of Saturday’s Headlines segment on Hockey Night in Canada went into great detail about Arizona’s interest, including naming pieces involved in a potential trade.
Elliotte Friedman added that Arizona was one of the first teams to officially make an offer for Hall and that offer is not believed to include the Coyotes top two prospects in Barrett Hayton or Victor Soderstrom. Instead, Friedman notes the two sides are “haggling about” Kevin Bahl.” Apparently, the Devils want Bahl. The Coyotes don’t want to include him.
Part of the issue is that Friedman also explained:
“… what we’re hearing is that they haven’t given anyone permission to talk extension with Hall. So we don’t believe that this trade is going to come with an extension.”
Who Else Might Be Interested?
The Coyotes made the best offer but the crew from Sportsnet seems to think that the Devils are now using this offer and Hall sitting the last two games to see if other NHL teams will come to the table in the final hours. So far, no luck.
“We know that Florida has been involved in some trade talks, St. Louis, a couple other teams. But we believe the Coyotes have the best offer on the table right now,” Johnston explained.
How soon before he’s moved? Well, if another team doesn’t insert themselves into the conversation by the 19th of December, it is believed the Devils will move Hall to the highest bidder.
Related: Sven Baertschi On Trade Block Out of Vancouver?
