Follow @james_tanner123 With Iceland recently proving the existence of Karma and Don Cherry having gone nearly 'full Trump' with his ridiculous comments about the Leafs' draft; with Elliotte Friedman nearly ruining his credibility by calling Kris Russel a 'top four defenseman' and Stamkos-mania in full swing, it is clear that the week leading up to free-agency is the NHL equivalent of a crazy Japanese game show. So, really no surprise that Taylor Hall Rumours are out of control.
Having to move Taylor Hall to land Adam Larsson would be a desperation trade for a good defender and a bag of hope
— Big Daddy (@loc8ingoil) June 29, 2016
What? Trading Hall for Larsson would be like trading in one of your legs for a piece of Yarn taped to the top of your thigh.
The Oilers need to read some of my old blogs so they can understand that last year they sucked mostly because of injuries. Trading Taylor Hall would be like punching your cat, Pete, just because you burned your dinner. What's one got to do with the other?
(Note at Pete's request I have entered anger management) but What is Peter Chiarelli going to do? Instead of trading Taylor Hall (or Yakupov for a 3rd????) he might want give his job back to Craig MacTavish.
Alternately, he could package Hall to Boston for Louis Erikson, but what do I know?
LeBrun: "I think Taylor Hall is available. If not him, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins." Many a move I think coming this summer in Edmonton. #Oilers
— Chris Nichols (@NicholsOnHockey) June 28, 2016
While there is no direct evidence Peter Chiarelli has suffered a brain injury, clearly the rumors are suggestive of such.
Finally a voice of reason:
Acceptable Hall trade- Oilers trade Taylor Hall and Yak to Islanders for Hamonic and Taylor Hall.
— SirFozz (@SirFozz) June 21, 2016
But it didn't last long.
Please don't trade Taylor Hall unless we're getting a true #1 D back. #oilers
— Bryna Campbell (@Bryna_C) June 19, 2016
To be very clear, there is one defenseman you could consider trading for Taylor Hall. One. His name is Erik Karlsson. If you traded Taylor Hall for Drew 'Career Achievement (Chuck) Norris" Doughty, you would lose that trade. By a lot.
Alexander Ovechkin is the best winger in hockey. Taylor Hall is the second best. And you don't even ever get good returns when you trade star players (See Kessel, Phil; Seguin Tyler; etc.).
If you have to trade Taylor Hall, what you should do first is retire as an NHL GM. You aren't qualified to run a hockey team if you think you should trade him.
That's it.
This weekend I've seen a combo of Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle for Cam Fowler and Bogosian.
— Travis Yost (@travisyost) June 19, 2016
The Moral of the story is this: Edmonton is not trading Taylor Hall. And if they do, they are dumb and their bad decision making will result in Connor McDavid signing with another team the second he gets a chance.
The Oilers have a legit shot at building a really special team. However, if they trade Hall, they might as well just torch that pretty new building they're building and move the franchise to New Mexico.