Conclusion
Is a trade for Taylor Hall doable?
In truth, and as we’ve mentioned before, this is a pure speculation piece and there is no indication that the Vegas Golden Knights have any kind of interest in the forward.
For starters, there is no concrete proof as of yet that Hall actually wants out of New Jersey, although the old saying that ‘there’s no smoke without fire’ is worth keeping in mind when assessing and dissecting this situation.
Of course, should the player come out and indicate that he’s ready for a fresh start then every General Manager in the NHL would no doubt have their attention grabbed given Hall’s stature and body of work.
Every front office in sports will always consider making a trade if it is going to help take their team to the next level, which Hall undoubtedly would, so you wouldn’t be surprised if the Golden Knights were keeping an eye on this current situation.
However, there are two main caveats to consider here. Firstly, Vegas have arguably one of the best top six forward units in the NHL with enough firepower to sink a small fleet of battleships.
You’d have to move one, two or even three pieces out in order to accommodate Hall, which would completely throw off the balance of this team and disrupt the strong chemistry that has been forged between the top line of Reilly Smith-William Karlsson-Jonathan Marchessault and the second line of Max Pacioretty-Paul Stastny-Mark Stone.
Secondly, and as we’ve already covered in depth, Vegas simply doesn’t have the spending power to be able to go out and acquire a player of Hall’s calibre without breaking up what is already a Stanley Cup contender.
They are already pressing right up against the cap and would have to move significant bodies off the roster in order to make cap space for Hall.
So, while it is exciting to dream about having a superstar like Hall light up the NHL in a Golden Knights jersey, the likelihood is that the forward probably won’t end up in Sin City even if these reports of him wanting out of the New Jersey Devils are true.
It was fun to speculate and Taylor Hall would of course be a major asset to any team in the league, but the Vegas Golden Knights can already boast plenty of star power on a formidable roster and their attention should be on making subtle tweaks to their lineup, rather than making huge waves by adding yet another heavyweight to the equation.