The Anaheim Ducks are in desperate need of help. Could free-agent Taylor Hall be a solution to their offensive woes?
It’s been a very long time since the Anaheim Ducks have been in the mix for one of the premium free-agents on offer. Typically speaking, Bob Murray elects to sit back and do his work after the big-name free-agents have chosen their destinations. He may consider it due to prudence and not willing to overpay and hamstring his teams, though one wonders if he is completely immune to overpaying in the silly season.
The Clayton Stoner contract was one such contract. The signing of a 3rd pairing defenceman who had played against weaker competition than any of his teammates that season, to a 4-year, 13 million dollar contract, was seen as confusing by most pundits. The deal was so good in fact, that Stoner himself, said that he jumped on it without even considering other offers.
"“There were quite a few teams interested, but not all had time to make offers because I thought this deal was good for everybody. Florida was one team, and so were Calgary, Arizona, Colorado and Montreal. With a lot of those teams we didn’t go down that route to make an offer because, by the time free agency opened, I already had my mind made up. I haven’t even spoken with my agent about who he talked to, or what kind of offers came in. As of 11:05, my mind was made up and the deal was done. It was done very quickly.” –Clayton Stoner"
Nonetheless, this is all in the past. What is pertinent to today, is that the Anaheim Ducks are looking to make some changes to a roster that is incredibly light on for high-end offensive talent. It just so happens that their Pacific Division rivals, the Arizona Coyotes are up against the salary cap, and are hard up for draft picks, over the next couple of years. It may be that they will be required to move on from one of their recently acquired marquee players. Taylor Hall.
A name that is synonymous with lottery draft picks. Hall, himself being one in the now distant past, as well as having the “luck” to be on some incredibly poor teams throughout his career. However, when healthy Hall is one of the dominant offensive talents in the game, and an absolute lock for a top-6 LW slot on nearly, if not every, team in the league.
The Ducks top LW is Rickard Rakell, who is himself a former 30 goal scorer in the NHL. Those days, however, seem to be somewhat firmly set in the rear vision mirror. Though it can also be said that on his best day, Rakell still didn’t reach the heights of the 2018 Hart Trophy-winning Taylor Hall. It can’t really be underestimated what a boost Hall would do for the Ducks offense.
With that said, is Hall a fit for the Anaheim Ducks as they are currently built?